Looking back on sales software stocks’ Q1 earnings, we examine this quarter’s best and worst performers, including Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and its peers.
Companies need to be able to interact with and sell to their customers as efficiently as possible. This reality coupled with the ongoing migration of enterprises to the cloud drives demand for cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software that integrates data analytics with sales and marketing functions.
The 4 sales software stocks we track reported a mixed Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.5% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.8% below.
Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 16.8% since the latest earnings results.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)
With its cloud-based platform named after its stock ticker symbol CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) provides customer relationship management software that helps businesses connect with their customers across sales, service, marketing, and commerce.
Salesforce reported revenues of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.8%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations but a miss of analysts’ billings estimates.
“This was an outstanding quarter for Salesforce — record revenue, record deals, and cash flow,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce.
The market seems disappointed with the results as the stock is down 6.6% since reporting and currently trades at $165.82.
Read our full report on Salesforce here, it’s free.
Best Q1: HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS)
Born from the idea that traditional interruptive marketing was becoming less effective, HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS) provides an integrated platform that helps businesses attract, engage, and manage customer relationships through marketing, sales, service, and content management tools.
HubSpot reported revenues of $881 million, up 23.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.1%. The business had a strong quarter with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.
HubSpot pulled off the fastest revenue growth among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 18.9% since reporting. It currently trades at $197.58.
Is now the time to buy HubSpot? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
