Business & Finance
Salesforce shares surge 20% on strong earnings and expanded Anthropic AI partnership
The enterprise software giant posted a sharp increase in net income and unveiled a new joint plugin with the artificial intelligence startup.
The short version
- Salesforce shares rallied more than 20% on Thursday, marking one of the stock's best single-day performances ever.
- The surge followed a strong second-quarter earnings beat and the announcement of "Claudeforce," a joint plugin with AI startup Anthropic.
- The positive results helped lift the broader software sector, easing recent investor anxieties about generative AI disrupting traditional software business models.
Key facts
- Salesforce reported second-quarter revenue of $11.35 billion, an 11% year-over-year increase that slightly beat LSEG analyst expectations of $11.32 billion.[CNBC]
- The company's net income jumped 87% to $3.53 billion, or $4.29 a share, up from $1.89 billion, or $1.96 a share, in the same period last year.[CNBC]
- Adjusted earnings per share reached $5.90, significantly outperforming analyst projections of $3.27 per share.[CNBC]
- Salesforce recorded a $2.6 billion gain from its strategic investment in Anthropic, whose valuation has grown to $965 billion ahead of its anticipated initial public offering.[CNBC]
- Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced an expanded partnership featuring "Claudeforce," a plugin designed to help sales teams access data via Anthropic's Claude chatbot.[CNBC]
- The broader software sector rallied on the news, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF rising about 5% alongside gains in stocks like Adobe, Palantir, and ServiceNow.[CNBC]