Surprisingly positive earnings from salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) were released after close yesterday afternoon and have renewed excitement in the company. On today’s market, shares have jumped by more than 13%, and analysts are releasing new estimates, increasing projected earnings and target prices on the stock.
Terry Tillman, of Raymond James Research, increased his price target for the company from $52.50 to $55 per share. The report reiterated the Outperform rating that had been put on the company’s stock in previous reports. Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) has momentum behind it, according to the report, and it’s likely to capitalize on that momentum in the coming quarters.
Earnings estimates are up
In the earnings release, salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) raised its outlook for the current year, FY2014. Revenue for the year will hit $4.0-4.025 billion according to the company’s own projections, while EPS for the period is projected to range between 32 and 34 cents per share.
Consensus estimates before the release of yesterday’s report put EPS for the year at 33 cents and revenue at $4 billion. The company’s previous projections for the year called for EPS of 32 cents per share and revenue of $3.835-3.875 billion. According to Tillman, there is still an attractive upside in the company’s revenue as well as its billings and cash flow.
The Raymond James report said the company should trade comfortably at around 6.5x EV/sales multiple. That multiple has been raised from the 6x in the previous earnings report from the analyst because of the firm’s position at the forefront of the software and services market. Tillman has high hopes for the future of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), but investors haven’t earned all that much from the company’s potential just yet.
Salesforce.com stock problems
It hasn’t been an easy year for salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) share holders. A very poor earnings report released in May showed weaknesses in the company’s business, and resulted in dumping the company’s shares on the market. Shares are up around 18% since January 1st, but there has been a lot of ups and downs along the way.
With that 18% gain, the company is ahead of the gains made by the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) in the period, but only as a result of today’s massive rise in the company’s stock price. salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a volatile stock, and its performance is highly susceptible to surprises at earnings time.
