Salesforce

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is a global cloud computing company that provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications across core business functions, such as sales, customer service, marketing automation, analytics, and application development. It is among the top five enterprise software companies in the world, and, in January 2009, it became the first cloud computing company to cross the billion-dollar mark in annual revenue. In FY2024, Salesforce generated USD 34.9 billion in annual revenue. In 2020, Salesforce was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average , and, in 2021, the company achieved net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain and 100% renewable energy. In 2022, Salesforce displaced SAP as the world’s largest provider of enterprise applications , ranking 136 in the Fortune 500. As of 2023, the company was rated the number one CRM provider globally by the International Data Corporation (IDC) for 10 consecutive years.

Salesforce operates across two broad reporting segments: 1) Subscriptions and support and 2) Professional services and others. The Subscription and support segment is further subdivided into five revenue streams: Sales, Service, Platform and other, Marketing and commerce, and Data. Service is the largest revenue contributor (24% in FY2024), followed by Sales (22%). 

In 2024, the Americas accounted for ~67% of Salesforce’s total revenue, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (~23%) and Asia-Pacific (~10%). 

Salesforce plans to invest in growth by enhancing customer relationships through cross-selling and upselling, expanding its go-to-market capabilities globally, venturing into new categories and verticals, strengthening its partner ecosystem, and driving customer adoption while limiting customer attrition. The company is also focused on acquisitions and strategic investments to further the development of its Customer 360 platform, with the ~USD 27.7 billion acquisition of Slack in July 2021 being a case in point.