Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) Thursday reported a slip to loss for the first quarter, from a profit last year, hurt largely by increased stock-based compensation and amortization costs. Excluding the expenses, earnings for the quarter improved from last year, on a 38 percent revenue growth.
Salesforce earnings and revenues for the quarter came in ahead of analysts' expectations. Moving ahead, the company also lifted its full year 2013 outlook and detailed its second-quarter guidance, which is indicated to come in above current estimates.
Following the news, Salesforce shares climbed over six percent on the New York Stock Exchange in after-hours trade.
Chief Executive Marc Benioff said, "Salesforce.com continues to be the fastest growing software company of its size. Last year we became the first enterprise cloud computing company to achieve $2 billion in revenue, and we're now poised to deliver the first ever $3 billion year in fiscal 2013."
For the quarter, amortization of intangibles doubled to $20.9 million from last year, while stock-based expenses rose to $81.3 million from $47.6 million last year.
San Francisco-based Salesforce's loss for the first quarter was $19.5 million or $0.14 per share, compared to a profit of $530 thousand or break even per share last year.
Excluding special items, net income rose to $0.37 per share from $0.28 per share last year. On average, 38 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.34 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Salesforce, which provides cloud computing services, said its total revenues for the quarter grew 38 percent to $695.5 million, topping analysts estimate of $678.21 million.
Looking forward, Salesforce now expects full-year 2013 loss in a range of $0.48 to $0.45 per share and adjusted earnings of $1.60 to $1.63 per share. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $1.61 per share. Previously, the company estimated a loss of $0.55 to $0.51 per share and adjusted earnings of $1.58 to $1.62 per share.
The company also lifted its full year revenue forecast to a range of $2.97 billion to $3.00 billion, from prior estimate of $2.92 billion to $2.95 billion. Analysts currently expect revenues of $2.95 billion for fiscal year 2013.
For the second-quarter, Salesforce expects loss in a range of $0.10 to $0.09 per share, adjusted earnings of $0.38 to $0.39 per share, and revenues of $724 million to $728 million. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.38 per share on revenues of $713.78 million for the second-quarter.
CRM closed Thursday's trading at $133.80, down $2.78 or 2.04%. In after-hours trade, the stock gained $9.04 or 6.76%. Trading volume for the day was 5.4 million shares, above the three-month average volume of 2.5 million.
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