(Reuters) -Salesforce Inc on Wednesday forecast first-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates as pandemic-induced migration to hybrid-work models boosts demand, sending the cloud-based software provider’s shares up 10% after markets.
The company also said it will increase its share repurchase program to $20 billion.
Salesforce has come under pressure from several activist investors including Elliott Management Corp and Starboard Value that are concerned about its slowing growth and are pushing for changes.
But its newly launched products as well as the Customer 360 platform and messaging app Slack are helping it to win customers and drive sales in the face of a potential economic slowdown.
To drive down costs, Salesforce in January said it planned to close some offices and cut jobs by 10% after pandemic hiring left it with a bloated workforce.
The company forecast revenue for the first quarter between $8.16 billion and $8.18 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $8.06 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
It also expects full-year revenue between $34.5 billion and $34.7 billion. Analysts on average expected $34.03 billion.
Revenue for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31 was $8.38 billion, above analysts’ average expectation of $7.99 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.68 per share, compared with estimates of $1.36 per share.
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
