Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM) Stock Stalls After Ho-Hum Q1 Earnings

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CRM stock - Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM) Stock Stalls After Ho-Hum Q1 Earnings

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Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shareholders have been treated to a handsome 2017 so far, with shares up nearly 30% for the year-to-date. But given the flat reaction in CRM stock following Thursday evening’s first-quarter earnings report, it looks like the good news has all been baked in.

Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM) Stock Stalls After Ho-Hum Q1 Earnings

CRM hasn’t been alone this year. Many top-tier tech operators including Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have been in full rally mode. But like the rest of the tech sector, optimism toward Salesforce seems to be waning.

For its Q1, Salesforce earnings came to 28 cents per share after certain items, up from 24 cents per share a year ago and better than expectations by a pair of pennies. Revenues jumped by 25% to $2.39 billion, which was about $4 million higher than expected.

It was a beat, but considering how low the bar was set, it wasn’t a convincing one.

The most promising piece of information was actually the guidance for the full year. Salesforce now sees revenues coming in a range of $10.25 billion to $10.3 billion, up from prior estimates of $10.2 billion. Meanwhile, CRM also expects earnings to come in at $1.28 to $1.30 per share.

Here are some of the other highlights from the Salesforce.com earnings report:

  • Cash from operations came to $1.23 billion, up 17% on a year-over-year basis.  In all, the cash balance is $2.22 billion.
  • Salesforce.com launched the Commerce Cloud Einstein platform, which provides AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities to retailers.
  • Gartner, Inc., named Salesforce as the leader in the Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement. Salesforce.com has held this position for the past 9 years.
  • CRM announced an agreement with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to integrate Service Cloud Einstein with Amazon Connect, which allows for next-generation contact center services.

From a technical standpoint, though, CRM has hit the wall.

CRM stock chart

Shares have dipped down to the 20-day moving average, which the stock has been rubbing up against for much of the past couple months. Still, it has provided relatively firm support for most of 2017. Next support sits just about 4% lower at the 50-day moving average in the $84.60 area.

One upside — over the past week or so, CRM stock has dripped down off its all-time highs and worked off an extreme overbought reading in its Relative Strength Index (RSI). And at a current reading of 60, momentum still is on Salesforce’s side, but there’s still room for shares to catch fire again should investors bullishly reconsider in the morning.

UPDATE: For the most part, Salesforce is all about maintaining the growth story. Yes, it’s impressive that the company has been able to continue to crank out strong gains, especially given the high revenue base. Then again, Salesforce has the advantage of being a pioneer of the cloud computing industry and has remained focused on innovation.

But CRM stock isn’t without its risks.

The cloud specialist has engaged in an aggressive mergers and acquisitions campaign, which has involved 11 deals during the past year or so. While some are small, others have required significant payouts; for example, CRM paid $750 million for Quip and $2.8 billion for Demandware.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books. They include Artificial Intelligence Basics and the Robotic Process Automation Handbook. His upcoming book is called Generative AI: How ChatGPT and other AI Tools Will Revolutionize Business.

But the hefty price tags may not be the biggest issue. Rather, it could ultimately prove difficult for CRM to integrate the disparate organizations, which span different product offerings.

Another problem is Salesforce.com’s valuable customer relationship management software franchise. Perhaps the biggest threat is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which has invested heavily in the cloud over the past few years, including revamping Office. But the company also has retooled its own CRM platform, Dynamics.

And the LinkedIn acquisition could prove vital in lifting this software thanks to the massive user base of professionals.

In light of the strong run in CRM stock, as well as the emerging risks, it’s best for investors to be cautious — and keep their distance — for now.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook as well as OptionExercise.com, which provides interactive tools & services for employee stock options of pre/post IPO companies. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/05/salesforce-com-inc-crm-stock-stalls-after-ho-hum-q1-earnings/.

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