Salesforce Stock Surges 13% After Strong Q2 Earnings Report

Salesforce stock surged about 13% in premarket trading on Thursday, following a Q2 earnings report that exceeded analyst expectations. The company's quarterly results showed strong growth across its cloud products, AI adoption, and customer retention.

CEO Marc Benioff highlighted Salesforce's momentum in AI, Slack, and core cloud products, citing stronger bookings, improved customer retention, and expanding AI adoption. He noted that the company delivered its strongest net new annual order value growth in four years, with seats increasing year-over-year across Agentforce, Sales, Service, and Slack.

Bienioff also emphasized the importance of Salesforce's data foundation, including capabilities added through its Informatica acquisition, in supporting AI models. The company's partnership with Anthropic, which developed Claude Force, combines Anthropic's Claude with Salesforce's customer data, applications, security controls, and AI tools.

Salesforce now generates nearly $47 billion in revenue, compared to less than $1 billion when Benioff first appeared on CNBC's show in 2009. The company is also expanding its presence in the U.S. government, with the U.S. Army expecting to handle 55 million Agentforce conversations each month.