Salesforce: We'll Top $10B Next Year

Salesforce had a great quarter.

In an earnings call Thursday, the company reported revenue for the third fiscal quarter of 2017 of $2.14 billion, up 25% year-over-year. And it said it expects to exceed $10 billion next year, and reach $20 billion faster than any other enterprise software company.

"No other enterprise software company is delivering that kind of growth at this scale, size," CEO Marc Benioff said on the call.

Salesforce.com Inc. delivered fourth-quarter revenue guidance of between $2.267 billion and $2.277 billion, and raised full-year fiscal 2017 guidance to between $8.365 billion and $8.375 billion.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were $0.24.

Salesforce traded up 5.87% at $75.19 after hours Thursday.

Benioff sounded an optimistic economic note on the call despite apparent reservations about the incoming presidential administration -- he has, for instance, previously butted heads with Vice President-elect Mike Pence over an Indiana LGBTQ law.

Are you a service provider executive who wants to learn more about the impact of web-scale competition on the communications sector? Join us for Light Reading's third annual 2020 Vision Executive Summit taking place in Rome, December 6-8. Contact our events team to find out if you qualify for a VIP pass.

Speaking of last week's election, Benioff said: "Some of us may not have had the outcome we want. Some of us have the outcome we did want. In my view, it's in the past. We're moving forward. At Salesforce we have an open mind, we have an open heart, and we expect the best."

Benioff says he has been optimistic about growth next year, unlike many economists, and continues to be optimistic. He sees the economic damage of the 2008 recession as done, opening the door to further growth.

The clash with Pence happened when the Indiana Governor championed a law allowing business owners to decline to serve LGBTQ customers, Benioff fought back, saying he would cancel all Salesforce programs involving travel to Indiana, and promising relocation packages to Indiana Salesforce employees who wanted to leave. Pence revised the measure to ban businesses from refusing service because of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Benioff has also been an activist for equal pay for women. And at Salesforce's annual Dreamforce customer conference recently, attendees received lapel pins allowing them to proclaim their chosen gender.

Related posts:

— Mitch Wagner, , Editor, Light Reading Enterprise Cloud