Salesforce (CRM) Beats Q3 Earnings Expectations, Raises Full-Year Guidance
Key Results (vs. Estimates)
- Revenue: $10.26B (reported $10.259B) vs. est. $10.27B → In line / slight miss
- Non-GAAP EPS: $3.25 vs. est. $2.86 → Beat
- GAAP EPS: $2.19
YoY growth: Revenue up 9%; Subscription & Support up 10%.
Quarter Highlights
- RPO: $59.5B, up 12% YoY; cRPO: $29.4B, up 11% YoY.
- Subscription & Support revenue: $9.726B, up 10% YoY.
- Operating margin:
- GAAP: 21.3%
- Non-GAAP: 35.5%, an expansion from 33.1% last year.
- Operating cash flow: $2.3B, up 17% YoY; free cash flow: $2.2B, up 22% YoY.
- Capital return: $4.2B returned to shareholders (incl. $3.8B buybacks, $395M dividends).
AI & Product Momentum
- Agentforce & Data 360 ARR: Nearly $1.4B, up 114% YoY.
- Agentforce ARR alone: Up 330% YoY.
- Over 9,500 paid deals; 3.2 trillion tokens processed through LLM gateway.
- 50% of bookings came from existing-customer expansion.
Guidance Check
Q4 FY26 Guidance (Non-GAAP)
- Revenue: $11.13–$11.23B (11–12% YoY)
- Non-GAAP EPS: $3.02–$3.04
Full-Year FY26 Guidance (Updated)
- Revenue: Raised to $41.45–$41.55B (9–10% YoY).
- Non-GAAP Operating Margin: 34.1%.
- Operating cash flow growth: Raised to 13–14%.
Guidance:
- Full-year revenue guidance raised.
- Full-year operating cash flow outlook raised.
- Margin guidance maintained (non-GAAP) or updated (GAAP).
Estimate vs. Reported — Summary Table
| Metric | Estimate | Reported | Beat/Miss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $10.27B | $10.259B | Slight miss / essentially in line |
| Non-GAAP EPS | $2.86 | $3.25 | Beat |
| GAAP EPS | — | $2.19 | — |
| Guidance | — | Full-year raised | Positive |
Executive Commentary
CEO Marc Benioff highlighted:
- cRPO up 11% YoY signals “a powerful pipeline of future revenue.”
- Agentforce + Data 360 ARR hit nearly $1.4B, growing 114% YoY and showing strong AI-driven demand.
- Salesforce remains on track toward its $60B+ organic revenue target and long-term margin goals.
Assessment
- EPS beat was strong, helped by margin discipline.
- Revenue outcome was in line, with subscription growth steady at ~10%.
- Guidance raise indicates confidence in AI-driven ARR expansion.
- RPO and cRPO growth remain robust, reinforcing visibility into FY26–27.
Final line: Salesforce delivered a clean quarter marked by margin strength, durable double-digit ARR growth in AI products, and a firm raise to full-year guidance