Image source: salesforce blogs.
In the third quarter of fiscal year 2014, salesforce.com (CRM -0.57%) just reported results in line with analyst targets.
Revenues jumped 36.5% year over year, landing at $1.08 billion. That's just ahead of the average analyst estimate and management's own guidance, both of which pointed to $1.06 billion. Non-GAAP earnings increased by a penny to $0.09 per share, in line with both Wall Street's projections and Salesforce's guidance.
The strongest growth this quarter came from the services and support segment, whose sales surged 50% year over year. The segment is on the fast track to growth, but it remains a small fraction of Salesforce's overall operations with tight margins to boot. Services and support accounted for 6.6% of Salesforce's total sales this quarter, and just 0.3% of the company's gross profits.
Looking ahead, management expects a 35% revenue increase in the fourth quarter. Adjusted earnings could double to $0.06 per share.
CEO Marc Benioff celebrated "strong customer response to our next generation social and mobile cloud technologies," lifting Salesforce toward an expected $5 billion revenue performance in fiscal year 2015.
The stock gained less than 1% in after-hours trading, following a 3.1% drop during the regular Monday session. The session also included an intraday high of $58.37, setting a new all-time highs. salesforce.com shares have gained 54% over the past year.
