Core Viewpoint - Salesforce's (CRM.US) latest quarterly revenue outlook falls short of market expectations, indicating that its AI products have not yet achieved the anticipated market returns amid fierce competition from emerging AI companies [1] Revenue Outlook - For the fiscal quarter ending in October, Salesforce expects revenue to reach between $10.2 billion and $10.3 billion, slightly below Wall Street's average expectation of $10.3 billion [1] - Remaining performance obligations, a key indicator of order volume, are expected to grow "slightly above" 10%, in line with analyst predictions [1] AI Competition Concerns - Investors are increasingly worried that traditional software companies like Salesforce may be replaced by new AI entrants, as AI technology is perceived to take over existing product functionalities, leading to reduced human resource investments by client companies [1] - Barclays analyst Raimo Lenso emphasized the need for investors to monitor the operational data of Agentforce and look forward to potential positive developments from the upcoming Dreamforce conference [1] Agentforce Product Insights - Salesforce's AI tool, Agentforce, launched last year, has signed over 6,000 paying customers and reported an annual recurring revenue of $100 million as of May, although this figure was not updated in the latest earnings report [1][3] - CFO Robin Washington noted that large enterprises and regulated industries are cautious about deploying AI tools, requiring time to adopt them confidently [3] Stock Performance - Following the earnings announcement, Salesforce's stock price plummeted by 5.5% in after-hours trading, marking a cumulative decline of 23% for the year [3] CEO's Confidence - CEO Marc Benioff expressed strong confidence in the future of Agentforce, highlighting a 60% increase in the number of customers transitioning from trial to full deployment, indicating a significant expansion in application scenarios and usage scale [3] - Benioff dismissed concerns about the potential obsolescence of enterprise SaaS applications, asserting that he sees no viable alternatives to their current business operations [4] Financial Performance - For the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, Salesforce reported a year-over-year revenue growth of 9.8%, reaching $10.2 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $10.1 billion [6] - Remaining performance obligations increased by 11% to $29.4 billion, and adjusted earnings per share were $2.91, exceeding the expected $2.78 [6] Strategic Developments - Salesforce announced an expansion of its stock buyback program by $20 billion, bringing the total to $50 billion [6] - The company plans to focus more on developing IT service management products, potentially positioning itself in direct competition with industry leader ServiceNow (NOW.US) [6] - The acquisition of data software company Informatica (INFA.US) is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026 or later [6]