Salesforce's Weak Cloud Demand Leads to Disappointing Revenue Forecast

Salesforce's annual revenue forecast fell below estimates, leading to a 2% drop in after-hours trading, signaling a likely slowdown in cloud and tech spending due to high interest rates and rising inflation. The company plans to cut about 700 employees and expects revenue of $37.7 billion to $38 billion for full-year 2025, below analysts' estimate of $38.62 billion. Despite beating fourth-quarter revenue and profit estimates, the company's lower growth outlook prompted the introduction of a dividend and an expanded stock buyback program.