Salesforce Inc's surprising gains and prospects lifted the company's shares higher in Wednesday's trading session.
Salesforce reported a fourth-quarter loss of $98 million, or 10 cents a share, on revenue of $8.38 billion, up from $7.33 billion a year ago.
After adjusting for stock compensation and other costs, the cloud software company reported earnings of $1.68 per share, up from 84 cents per share last year. It was also higher than the expected $1.36 per share.
As a result, Salesforce shares jumped more than 15% in after-hours trading after closing up 2.3% at $167.34.
The last time the company's stock rose more than 10% in a single session was on August 26, 2020, when it enjoyed record gains after a strong earnings report at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also supporting the strengthening are the company's higher forecasts for the coming year and plans to increase share buybacks.
It is understood that the operating margin will be set at approximately 27% in fiscal year 2024, which will last until next January. It exceeded the average analyst estimate of 22.4%.
In addition, Salesforce also said it will increase its share repurchase program to $20 billion.
For the record, in the final fiscal year of 2022, the company has announced layoffs of 10% of its approximately 80,000 employees.
