Some beats bring on beatings.

Cloud-computing pioneer salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) came through with a better-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday night, but that was quickly forgotten after the investors keyed in on uninspiring billings and fears of a near-term slowdown.

Enterprise software is obviously susceptible to the whims of corporate spending, but salesforce.com has been an all-weather grower in the past. Companies continue to switch to its more cost-effective sever-stored solutions over traditional enterprise programs.

Did the stock take a hit on Friday morning because one of the few recessionary heroes is proving mortal? It's certainly possible, but salesforce.com is in fact still growing at a heady clip. Its guidance also points to future growth. It seems that salesforce.com's hit on the earnings news is more related to the stock's lofty valuation than to material weakness.

That won't come as a relief to shareholders, but it will be welcome news to those who keep tabs on salesforce.com as a bellwether for corporate spending on tech.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • Youku.com (NYSE: YOKU) took a hit after the leading Chinese video-streaming website posted a wider-than-expected deficit. It's at this point where the director yells out "cut!"
  • French conglomerate Vivendi sold a chunk of its majority stake in Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), reducing its stake from 63% to 60%. Isn't this the same Vivendi that bought EMI's music label for $1.9 billion a week earlier? Get your priorities in order, Vivendi.
  • Lazard Capital upgraded shares of Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) to "buy" and set a price target of $2.25. I think a certain analyst wants a Sirius XM 2.0 receiver for Christmas.
  • Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) shares were creamed after coming up short in the courtroom in a drawn-out legal battle. Sometimes, intellectual property really smarts.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz