Benzinga | Aug 26, 2021 10:30AM EDT

Why Salesforce Shares Are Trading Higher Today

Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) is trading higher Thursday after the company announced better-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2022 financial results and raised guidance.

Salesforce reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.48 per share, which beat the estimate of 92 cents per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $6.34 billion, which beat the estimate of $6.24 billion.

Salesforce expects third-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings of 91 cents per share to 92 cents per share versus the estimate of 81 cents per share.

Salesforce expects third-quarter fiscal 2022 revenue to be in a range of $6.78 billion to $6.79 billion versus the estimate of $6.66 billion.

"With companies and governments around the world continuing to accelerate their digital transformations, we delivered our fifth phenomenal quarter in a row. Salesforce has never seen better execution or greater momentum," said Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce.

Analyst Assessment: Multiple analyst firms raised price targets on the stock following its financial results:

* Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin maintained Salesforce with a Neutral rating and raised the price target from $240 to $280.

* Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz maintained Salesforce with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $265 to $290.

* Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju maintained Salesforce with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $260 to $290.

* Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow maintained Salesforce with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $291 to $320.

* Roth Capital analyst Richard Baldry maintained Salesforce with a Neutral rating and raised the price target from $200 to $242.

* BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman maintained Salesforce with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $280 to $310.

* Morgan Stanley maintained Salesforce with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $285 to $305.

* Raymond James analyst Brian Peterson maintained Salesforce with a Strong Buy rating and raised the price target from $280 to $340.

CRM Price Action: Salesforce has traded as high as $284.50 and as low as $201.51 over a 52-week period.

At last check Thursday, Salesforce was up 4.83% at $273.44

Photo: courtesy of Salesforce.