Salesforce raises forecast for 2016 for third time

Salesforce raised its sales forecast for fiscal 2016 a third time as revenue rose for the company's new products. Shares gained as much as 2.8 per cent in extended trading after Salesforce said revenue for the year through to January will be $6.6 billion (€5.87 billion) to $6.63 billion, compared with the previous outlook of $6.52 billion to $6.55 billion.

Salesforce has about 550 employees in Ireland.

Fiscal second-quarter sales rose 24 per cent to $1.63 billion, compared with analysts’ average projection of $1.6 billion, according to estimates .

Chief executive officer Marc Benioff and president Keith Block have spent the past two years expanding into new markets with products for marketing, corporate social networks and data analytics, while also targeting the company's web-based technology at larger customers.

The effort has led to a growth in deferred revenues as customers move to bigger contracts.

Salesforce's success has made it an acquisition target, with the company retaining financial advisers earlier this year in response to takeover offers. Microsoft evaluated a possible bid, and Benioff and SAP SE chief executive officer Bill McDermott held strategy talks last year. "They've got a lot of opportunity," said Brent Thill, an analyst at UBS, who has a buy rating on the stock. "You don't want them at the top of every game because then they won't have opportunity left."

– (Bloomberg)