What you need to know before your Salesforce earnings report

Key takeaways

Salesforce is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings report for fiscal year 2025 after the bell on Wednesday.
The customer relationship management (CRM) company is expected to report that revenue and net income were at year-ago levels but down from the previous quarter.
Investors will likely be paying attention to sustained growth in Salesforce’s data cloud segment.
Salesforce can also provide updates on how AI is impacting its business.

Salesforce ( CRM ) will report first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings after the buzzer on Wednesday, with investors likely to be paying attention to the growth of the company’s data cloud segment and any artificial intelligence (AI)-related updates.

Analysts estimate Salesforce’s revenue will be $9.15 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, down from the previous quarter but up from $8.25 billion in the same period in 2024, according to estimates from Visible Alpha.

Net income is expected to be $1.44 billion, down continuously but up from $199 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2024. Analysts expect diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.45, compared with 20 cents in the same period a year earlier. Seasonally, the fiscal fourth quarter is the best for Salesforce, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

	Analyst estimates for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025	Q4 2024	Q1 2024
Income	$9.15 billion	$9.29 billion	$8.25 billion
Diluted earnings per share	$1.45	$1.47	20 cents
Net income	$1.44 billion	$1.45 billion	$199 million

Key indicator: development of the data cloud

Salesforce’s data cloud segment has grown in popularity as enterprise customers work to leverage their data in the age of artificial intelligence.

In February, the company reported that its data cloud segment achieved annual recurring revenue of $400 million, almost doubling year-over-year.

Salesforce Chief Operating Officer (COO) Brian Millham said this is “the beginning of a new cycle of innovation that will usher in a massive software purchasing cycle for years to come, and Salesforce is leading the way.”

Investors will likely see continued strong growth in Salesforce’s cloud data business as enterprise customers integrate AI. Bank of America Securities analysts said that “the AI product cycle is accelerating thanks to Data Cloud.”

Business in Focus: Empowering Artificial Intelligence with Einstein 1

Salesforce may be well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for AI by offering the Einstein 1 platform that integrates AI into its offerings.

Einstein 1 is not expected to have a significant impact on revenues in fiscal 2025, but Salesforce can provide investors with updates on customer adoption and share insights on when the platform will start contributing to the company’s bottom line.

Citi analysts said they would “like to see more signs of a strengthening demand environment and/or greater Data Cloud/GenAI momentum” for Salesforce.

Salesforce shares are up nearly 3% year-to-date, trading at $270.83 as of 11 a.m. EST on Tuesday.