Salesforce reported higher than expected quarterly revenue and raised its full-year revenue forecasts.
In a statement the outfit said that customers were stepping up purchases of its web-based sales and marketing software despite economic uncertainty.
Salesforce is becoming a barometer for the cloud-computing sector. It has done well as companies wanted cheaper and easier cloud-software services.
Salesforce highlighted new or expanded deals with customers such as Charles Schwab, the financial-services company, and consumer-goods maker Unilever.
Chief Financial Officer Mark Hawkins on a call with analysts that while the papers seem to be full of doom Salesforce has not seen an economic impact.
Part of the reason, executives said on the call, was that Salesforce often skipped over the information technology department, an area where flat spending is expected this year, and sold to other departments.
Some technology companies that have flagged potential weakness this year sell infrastructure equipment or other products that typically fall under an IT budget.
The company raised its full-year revenue forecast to $8.08 billion-$8.12 billion, from $8.0 billon-$8.1 billion.
In the fourth quarter ended January 31, revenue from sales cloud – a suite of software that allows companies to track leads, forecast and collaborate around sales opportunities – rose 12.3 percent to $708.9 million.
The net loss narrowed to $25.5 million, or 4 cents per share, from $65.8 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 25.3 percent to $1.81 billion, above analysts’ estimate of $1.79 billion.
