Salesforce reported better-than-expected Q4 revenue, fueled by soaring demand for its cloud-based software as remote work stretches further into 2021

Salesforce San Francisco
Salesforce tower in San Francisco. Stephen Lam/Getty Images
  • Cloud giant Salesforce reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue on Thursday.

  • Demand for its cloud-based software has soared as remote work stretches further into 2021.

  • Salesforce is also doubling down on remote work internally with a new "Work From Anywhere" program.

  • Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Salesforce reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue on Thursday, helped by increased demand for its cloud-based software as remote work stretches further into 2021.

Although vaccine rollouts are under way, rising use of automation and artificial intelligence for smooth working are likely to sustain the digital transformation of operations and cloud adoption trends among businesses.

Over the last year, Salesforce's revenue grew quarter after quarter as more businesses subscribed to its cloud-based enterprise software after the pandemic pushed them to rethink ways of working in a remote world.

Revenue in the quarter ended Jan. 31 rose to $5.82 billion from $4.85 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average expected revenue to be $5.68 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The software company raised its fiscal 2022 revenue forecast slightly to between $25.65 billion and $25.75 billion, above analysts' average estimate of $25.42 billion.

Salesforce is doubling down on remote work internally as well. The company announced earlier this month that its employees would have the option to work remotely full time, even when it's safe to return to the office. The company's new guidelines, called "Work From Anywhere," offer employees three options for how they'll work going forward: flex, office-based, and fully remote.

Employees who work within the "flex" option will report to the office between one and three days each week, while those who are office-based will come in most days or every day.

"An immersive workspace is no longer limited to a desk in our Towers; the 9-to-5 workday is dead; and the employee experience is about more than ping-pong tables and snacks," Brent Hyder, the president and chief people office of Salesforce, wrote in a blog post announcing the change.

But Salesforce has also faced blowback for its culture in recent week: Two Black women in manager-level positions at Salesforce have publicly quit, citing a toxic culture within the company.

Cynthia Perry, a senior manager of research in business technology at Salesforce, wrote on LinkedIn that she experienced "experienced countless microaggressions and inequity" during her time at the company. Vivianne Castillo, who served as a manager of design research and innovation, wrote on LinkedIn that she also experienced microaggressions, as well as gaslighting, during her tenure at the company.

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Read the original article on Business Insider