Events around the world are moving at a breakneck pace, and investors in many different financial markets are seeing extreme swings as a result. Oil prices moved to nearly $110 per barrel early Wednesday morning as traders weigh the impact of Russian sanctions on global energy production and supply. However, stock markets looked to regain some ground after steep losses over the past few days. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.64%) were up 240 points to 33,507. S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.19%) futures gained 31 points to 4,335, while Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.70%) futures picked up 113 points to 14,118.
Earnings reports continued to give some color on individual company performance across the U.S. economy. Customer relationship management software pioneer Salesforce.com (CRM 0.62%) posted solid gains after reporting its latest results, while First Solar's (FSLR 2.29%) numbers cast a shadow over the solar panel producer.
Salesforce gets record sales
Shares of Salesforce were up 4% in premarket trading Wednesday morning. The CRM software specialist's fourth-quarter financials showed the continued impact that digital transformation has had on the companies that provide vital services to help businesses embrace and take advantage of the latest technology.
Salesforce closed its 2022 fiscal year on a strong note. Fourth-quarter revenue of $7.33 billion rose 26% year over year, with 25% growth in subscription and support revenue supplemented by an outsize 46% rise in sales of professional services. For the full year, revenue came in at nearly $26.5 billion, up 25% from fiscal 2021. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.84 per share for the quarter and $4.78 per share for the full year.
Salesforce also continued to see a healthy pipeline of future business. Remaining performance obligations climbed 21% to $43.7 billion, or more than a year and a half of sales.
Best of all, Salesforce sees its momentum continuing through fiscal 2023. The company boosted its revenue guidance, now expecting 21% growth to between $32 billion and $32.1 billion. Full-year adjusted earnings of $4.62 to $4.64 per share would mark a slight downtick from fiscal 2022 levels, but investors seem hopeful that between favorable trends like remote work and the recent acquisition of workplace communications platform Slack Technologies, Salesforce could see higher longer-term profits in the years to come.
Image source: Getty Images.
Skies darken over First Solar
Elsewhere, Wednesday morning didn't bring as sunny an outlook from First Solar. The solar giant saw its stock drop 13% after its fourth-quarter financial results failed to give investors everything they'd hoped to see.
First Solar's numbers didn't appear to be a cause for alarm on their face. Fourth-quarter revenue of $907 million was up 49% from the year-ago period. Earnings of $1.23 per share improved nicely from $1.08 in the fourth quarter of 2020, and full-year earnings of $4.38 per share were up 17% year over year.
However, CEO Mark Widmar pointed to supply chain, logistics, and pandemic-related headwinds that put pressure on First Solar's cost structure. Despite having overcome most of those challenges in 2021, First Solar's 2022 guidance included provisions for weaker metrics ahead. Sales guidance of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion would not only be down sharply from the $2.92 billion in full-year 2021 revenue, but also lower than what First Solar brought in during 2020. Even worse, earnings in a range of $0 to $0.60 per share threw cold water on shareholders' hopes for consistent bottom-line performance.
The move away from fossil fuels has positive implications for solar energy stocks, so it's troubling to see First Solar failing to capitalize fully on the opportunity in front of it. The company's outlook shows just how difficult it will be to make a transition toward renewable energy, with inevitable obstacles along the way.
