Salesforce shares rose more than 12% in after-hours trading after the company posted fiscal 2026 second-quarter results that met or exceeded market expectations and issued third-quarter guidance slightly above estimates.
Q2 revenue reaches $11.3 billion as Q3 outlook comes in ahead of estimates
For the quarter ended July 31, Salesforce reported revenue of $11.3 billion, up 11% from a year earlier and in line with Wall Street expectations. Adjusted earnings per share came to $5.90.
For the third quarter ending in October, the company forecast revenue of $11.5 billion, a touch above market estimates. Salesforce also said current remaining performance obligations, or CRPO, a key gauge of future sales, are expected to grow 14%, ahead of the 13% average market forecast.
Chief Financial and Operating Officer Robin Washington said revenue growth in the second half would accelerate even excluding the impact of acquisitions, and added that net new bookings had reached their highest level in nearly four years.
Salesforce expands Anthropic tie-up and lifts Agentforce revenue outlook
As competition in AI intensifies, Salesforce said it is expanding its partnership with Anthropic, the developer of the Claude model. Salesforce products will be integrated more deeply into Claude, allowing sales staff to access customer information and sales-cycle data through the AI application.
Finance executive Mike Spencer said the integration would increase computing usage across both platforms and help encourage customers to move to higher-tier plans.
On its own AI products, Salesforce said Agentforce, its tool designed to handle business tasks without human intervention, is now expected to contribute about $1.5 billion in revenue this year. That is up from the $1.2 billion forecast the company gave in the previous quarter. Salesforce also said its earlier strategic investment in Anthropic has produced $2.6 billion in gains.
$3.6 billion Fin acquisition adds to AI push
Salesforce said in June that it would acquire AI startup Fin for $3.6 billion as part of its capital allocation plan and effort to deepen its AI offering in customer service.
The company plans to integrate Fin’s technology into its existing platform to strengthen its ability to compete, especially against potential pressure from Sierra, the startup founded by former Salesforce co-CEO and current OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor.
The deal points to Salesforce’s continued effort to reinforce its position in the customer relationship management, or CRM, market.
Benioff pushes back on “SaaS doomsday” concerns
After closing regular trading at $205.62, Salesforce shares climbed more than 12% in after-hours trading on the back of the earnings release and forward outlook.
Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff directly rejected the market’s negative view on the earnings call, urging investors to stop what he described as pointless speculation about a “software-as-a-service doomsday.” He said AI has not caused customer losses or forced the company to cut prices. Instead, churn is near historical lows and contract terms continue to improve.
Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst at Valoir, said the earnings figures were encouraging and helped ease concerns that AI could erode Salesforce’s core business.