Salesforce.com will release its new quarterly earnings report on December 3, 2025 (after the U.S. stock market closes). The market will focus on revenue growth, gross margin, progress on AI product monetization, and guidance for early fiscal 2026 and changes in the order pipeline.

Market Forecast

Consensus estimates indicate that Salesforce.com’s total revenue for this quarter is expected to be $10.273 billion, a year-over-year growth of approximately 9.89%; adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are anticipated to be $2.858, a year-over-year increase of around 17.02%; the EBIT for this quarter is projected to be $3.502 billion, a year-over-year increase of about 16.08%. The market has not formed a consensus estimate for gross margin, net profit, or net margin for this quarter, and no authoritative data has been disclosed yet.

In previous communications from the company’s management, external attention was directed towards orders and renewals driven by AI products. However, clear forecast information on gross margin, net profit, or net margin year-over-year has not been released for this quarter. If the company updates this in the earnings report or post-earnings call, it will be crucial for assessing profitability quality and cash flow trends.

Main Business Highlights: Subscription and support remain the core of revenue, with attention to cross-selling driven by Data Cloud and Agentforce and the increased proportion of multi-cloud transactions.

Key Existing Business Highlights: Last quarter, subscription and support revenue was approximately $9.69 billion, though year-over-year growth data was not disclosed. This segment contributed about 94.67% of revenue. The optimization of AI functionality and product mix pricing is expected to enhance customer value and renewal quality.

Last Quarter Review

Last quarter, Salesforce.com achieved a revenue of $10.236 billion; the gross margin was 78.10%; GAAP net income attributable to shareholders was $1.887 billion, with a net margin of 18.43%, showing a quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 22.45%; adjusted EPS was $2.91, growing 13.67% year-over-year. These core indicators fully reflect the improvement in revenue scale, profitability efficiency, and profit release.

Key points disclosed by management focused on stringent expense control, major client deals driven by AI capabilities, and maintaining healthy order visibility. Main business aspects included: subscription and support revenue of approximately $9.69 billion, accounting for about 94.67%; professional services and other revenue of about $546 million, accounting for about 5.33%. Professional services are typically associated with large deployments and complex integrations, providing a leading indicator for future subscription retention and expansion.

This Quarter Outlook

AI Product Monetization Pace and Unit Price Increase

Salesforce.com’s AI product suite (including combined sales of Agentforce and Data Cloud) has become a core topic for order growth. Analyst channel surveys indicate a significant increase in customer interest in intelligent agent capabilities in the second half of 2025, with AI-related opportunities in the sales pipeline increasing among large client groups. If higher-tier versions or AI module integrations show expanded paid penetration this quarter, there will be a direct short-term boost to subscription and support revenue. More importantly, AI capabilities are often coupled with high-margin products like Data Cloud, theoretically enhancing gross margin structure and supporting future renewal growth. The current market focus is not on the AI “showcase” but on “implementation and receivables.” If management can provide clear numbers on AI orders’ ARR, renewal rates, or cross-product penetration rates this quarter, it will significantly strengthen investor confidence in the AI commercialization path.

Price and Product Mix Impact on Gross Margin

Last quarter, the company’s gross margin was 78.10%, remaining at a high level among SaaS leaders. If this quarter sees an increased revenue weight of high-value products like Data Cloud, platforms and analytics modules, as well as AI value-added packages, maintaining the gross margin should be achievable. It’s noteworthy that an increase in professional services and implementation-related revenues usually dilutes the overall gross margin, though these revenues are positively correlated with subsequent subscription expansions. In an environment where growth tends to be rational, and clients pay more attention to ROI, the marginal contributions of product mix optimization and pricing strategies (such as enterprise value packages) to gross margin are worth tracking, especially if management outlines gross margin range targets and key drivers for the upcoming quarters.

Cash Flow and Profit Quality Continuity

Last quarter, the GAAP net margin reached 18.43%, with net income attributable to shareholders at $1.887 billion, increasing by 22.45% quarter-over-quarter, demonstrating strong profit elasticity. If this quarter maintains high single to low double-digit revenue growth, combined with continuous sales efficiency improvements (such as higher self-service rates, AI-driven sales, and service efficiency enhancements), it could theoretically support an upward trend in operating profit margin. The market will also pay attention to changes in billing terms, prepayments, and cRPO, which are related to the seasonal release of free cash flow and provide significant guidance for the visibility over the next few quarters. If management highlights renewal health and large deal quality in the post-earnings call, the sustainability of profit and cash flow will gain higher recognition.

Large Clients and Multi-Cloud Cross-Selling

The market remains optimistic about the demand for integrated solutions for multi-cloud deployment, data governance, and AI security compliance among large enterprise clients. Salesforce.com promotes cross-selling across multiple modules within its existing customer base, enhancing customer stickiness and increasing long-term value per customer. If this quarter’s disclosed proportion of multi-cloud transactions or customer lifecycle value improvement shows positive performance, the market might raise the revenue and profit centers for the next 12-24 months. Multi-cloud transactions usually involve longer contract terms, more complex implementations, and deeper integrations, forming a dual driver for professional services and subscription revenues.

Key Risks and Variables to Watch

External factors such as cautious IT budget environments, differences in ROI implementation pace of generative AI across scenarios, and penetration by emerging AI vendors in specific verticals could cause fluctuations in the quarterly guidance range. If macro uncertainties lead clients to delay cloud adoption and AI project implementation, it will reflect in moderate fluctuations in order realizations and cRPO growth. The company’s strategy execution on pricing systems and version bundling, if conservative, could slow the improvement pace of gross margin; while aggressive promotions or a temporary increase in the proportion of professional services might impact the seasonal gross margin. These variables need to be comprehensively assessed based on this quarter’s disclosed order quality and renewal indicators.

Analyst Opinions

Recently, several institutions have expressed cautious optimism. On the one hand, brokerage reports indicate that the application software sector is under pressure due to an "unclear AI benefit path," but client surveys for Salesforce.com show increased willingness to adopt AI; on the other hand, some research suggests that Salesforce.com's short-term "revenue outlook is conservative, and AI monetization pace does not fully match market expectations." Over the past six months, the proportion of optimistic and above-neutral voices is higher, with the bullish camp prevailing in both numbers and coverage.

Representative bullish arguments include two layers: firstly, quality improvements in orders and renewals are transmitting, especially with stronger cross-selling driven by AI capabilities and Data Cloud bundles; secondly, the expansion of high-margin subscriptions helps stabilize gross margin and strengthen free cash flow. Some institutions directly state that client interest in intelligent agent products like Agentforce has significantly increased, expecting that "the adoption rate plans within the next 3-6 months are noticeably higher than in the previous quarter," hinting at a potential acceleration point for ARR in the next two to three quarters.

Regarding short-term debates, the bullish side believes that the "growth and profit" strategy remains on track: last quarter's 18.43% GAAP net margin and quarter-over-quarter improvement in net profit provide a buffer for management to continue pursuing efficiency improvements this quarter. If this quarter provides clearer commercialization metrics around AI modules (e.g., quantifying associations with renewals and unit price), it will help alleviate market concerns about "more AI showcases but slower revenue confirmations."

Overall, the dominant view is "constructively bullish," but it requires verifiable operating metrics around AI from the earnings report and post-earnings guidance. Investors will closely track whether this quarter’s revenue and adjusted EPS meet consensus expectations, whether gross margin and net margin trend information is disclosed, and the growth and year-over-year metrics for AI-related orders and cRPO. If these key points are clarified and quantified, the foundation of the bullish logic will be more solidified.