(Bloomberg) — Salesforce Inc. gave a fiscal-year revenue forecast that fell short of estimates, dimming optimism that the company’s new artificial intelligence product would spur faster sales growth.
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Revenue will be $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion in the year ending January 2026, the San Francisco-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts, on average, estimated $41.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adjusted operating margin will be about 34% compared with an average analyst estimate of 33.9%.
The top maker of customer management software has focused on pushing “Agentforce,” which is meant to complete tasks such as customer service without needing direction from a person. Salesforce launched the product in October, and faces competition from software companies such as Microsoft Corp. and ServiceNow Inc., which are pursuing similar visions.
Despite the disappointing forecast, the company touted Agentforce, saying it had “closed 5,000” deals for the product.
“Agentforce performed incredibly well during the quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said in an interview. He cited its use by customers such as Pfizer Inc., Singapore Air, and the gym chain Equinox.
For the fiscal fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31, revenue rose 7.6% to $9.99 billion. It marked the third consecutive quarter of single-digit revenue growth for the software company, which had long enjoyed quicker expansion. Profit, excluding some items, was $2.78 per share, compared with an average estimate of $2.61.
The shares were little changed in extended trading after initially dropping more than 6%. The stock closed at $307.33 in New York and had gained 2.3% over the past 12 months, trailing many software peers.
Investors have flagged some uncertainty from changes in the company’s rank of top executives. Longtime Chief Financial Officer Amy Weaver and Chief Operating Officer Brian Millham are each leaving their roles. Robin Washington, a technology industry veteran who has been on Salesforce’s board since 2013, will assume a newly created role of chief financial and operations officer.
Earlier this month, Salesforce cut more than 1,000 roles as it allocates spending toward AI-focused initiatives. It also awarded a $2.5 billion cloud contract to Alphabet Inc.’s Google, expanding infrastructure beyond its traditional partner of Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services.
