LOS ANGELES (AFX) - Business software provider Salesforce.com Inc. late Wednesday said it slipped into a quarterly net loss amid higher research and development costs and as it spent more on marketing, offsetting a stronger-than-expected 63% surge in revenue.
The company's stock fell in light evening trading after it issued an initial profit forecast for the current quarter that fell below analysts' average estimate.
Salesforce said it added 45,000 net new paying subscribers, a closely watched measure of its performance.
Salesforce, which delivers its software via the Internet, said it lost $229,000 for the fiscal first quarter, reversing a year-earlier profit of $4.4 million. On a per-share basis, the company broke even, down from a profit of 4 cents in the same quarter last year.
Without items and excluding option expenses, the San Francisco-based company's profit would have increased 3.2% to $5 million from $4.8 million, and remained unchanged on a per-share basis at 4 cents.
Revenue climbed to $104.7 million from $64.2 million.
Wall Street analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 4 cents a share without options on revenue of $101.7 million, according to Thomson First Call.
The company, which competes with larger rivals such as Oracle Corp. and Germany's SAP AG , increased its revenue forecast for all of fiscal.
For all of 2007, Salesforce now expects revenue to come in at $478 million to $483 million. The company anticipates a net loss ranging between 5 cents to 8 cents a share, and expects its profit before items and options-related expenses to be 17 cents to 19 cents a share.
Currently, the average analyst estimate calls for a 2007 profit of 22 cents a share before items and options on revenue of $476.2 million.
The company anticipates a fiscal second-quarter net loss of 2 cents to 4 cents a share on revenue of $112 million to $114 million. Without options and other items, Salesforce pegged its profit for the current quarter at 3 cents to 4 cents a share.
That compares to Wall Street estimates for a quarterly profit of 5 cents a share without items on revenue of $112.9 million.
The company's shares lost 2.2% in extended trade to change hands at $29.50. The stock closed the normal session off 1.1% at $30.17 against the backdrop of a weaker overall market for stocks. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.