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Salesforce revenue up 13%; backlog misses consensus
Software giant Salesforce cleared analyst expectations on earnings and revenue for its first quarter of fiscal 2027, with Agentforce's annualised recurring revenue crossing US$1 billion for the first time. However, a marginally soft full-year forecast and a miss on contracted backlog left shares little changed in after-hours trade on Wednesday. Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) reported Q1 FY27 revenue of US$11.13 billion for the quarter ended 30 April, up 13% year-on-year and ahead of LSEG consensus of $11.05 billion, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.88 clearing the $3.12 Street forecast by a wide margin. GAAP net income climbed to $2.11 billion, or $2.42 per diluted share, from $1.54 billion in the prior corresponding period - a 52% improvement year-on-year. Free cash flow of $6.56 billion grew 4% from a year earlier, with non-GAAP operating margin expanding to 34.8% from 32.3% the year before. "This was an outstanding quarter for Salesforce - record revenue, record deals, and cash flow," Salesforce chair and CEO Marc Benioff said. “Agentic AI is the biggest growth opportunity for our customers, and for Salesforce.”Agentforce clears the $1 billion markAgentforce annualised recurring revenue hit $1.2 billion in the quar
Software
Intuit to cut 17% of workforce, revenue below estimates
Business software company Intuit has said it will lay off around 17% of its workforce after a selloff in software stocks, with revenue also falling short of estimates last quarter. Revenue rose 10% year-over-year to US$8.56 billion, under LSEG-compiled estimates of $8.61 billion. Earnings per share increased 10% to $12.80, above estimates of $12.57. “We delivered strong third-quarter results, driven by our AI-driven expert platform strategy. We have ignited significant growth engines across the company including disrupting the assisted tax segment, expanding our money portfolio and serving mid-market businesses that are growing north of 30 percent,” said CEO and chair Sasan Goodarzi. The layoffs will cause about $300-340 million in restructuring charges, the company said, largely in its quarter ending 31 July. Software stocks fell sharply last quarter amid investor concerns about artificial intelligence disrupting the sector, with Intuit’s shares down 39% year-to-date. Cisco and Meta also announced major layoffs within the past week. “We believe we can serve more customers and deliver breakthrough products that fuel our customers’ success by reducing complexity and simplifying our structure to become a faster, leane
Software
Shopify beats but issues low guidance; shares plunge
E-commerce platform Shopify beat revenue and earnings estimates last quarter, but shares fell 15.6% after it issued weak guidance. Earnings per share were US$0.36, up from $0.35 one year ago and above the Zacks consensus estimate of $0.32. Revenue rose 34% to $3.17 billion, surpassing estimates by 2.79%. “Shopify has entered the AI era with a clear edge: strong, durable growth and two decades of commerce intelligence. That puts us in a category of one, and we’re about to see that advantage compound throughout 2026,” said Shopify president Harley Finkelstein. Merchant solutions revenue climbed to $2.42 billion from $1.74 billion, its strongest growth in more than four years. Subscription solutions revenue was $750 million, up from $620 million. Gross merchandise volume was $100.74 billion, increasing from $74.75 billion one year ago. Monthly recurring revenue grew from $182 million to $212 million. Shopify’s gross profit climbed from $1.17 billion to $1.55 billion. Operating income was $382 million, rising from $203 million. The platform also processed $67 billion in payments during the quarter, it said, with its gross merchandise volume penetration rising from 64% to 67% year-over-year. Its outlook for 2026’s
Software
Palantir revenue jumps due to US govt contracts
Palantir beat earnings and revenue estimates last quarter, driven by a large increase in United States government revenue. Earnings per share were US$0.33, up from $0.13 one year ago and above LSEG consensus estimates of $0.28. Revenue grew 85% to $1.63 billion, passing estimates of $1.54 billion. “Palantir's Rule of 40 score has soared to 145%. We have shattered the metric, a feat matched only by other fellow AI infrastructure companies: NVIDIA, Micron and SK hynix,” said CEO Alex Karp. The Rule of 40 combines revenue growth and profit margin. “Momentum surged as we grew 85% last quarter—our highest-ever year-over-year growth rate—by more than doubling our U.S. business, and now we are raising our full-year revenue guidance to 71% growth, 10 points ahead of our guidance from last quarter, driven by our confidence in an accelerating U.S. market.” U.S. government revenue rose 84% year-over-year to $687 million, while total U.S. revenue increased 104% to $1.28 billion. Palantir did not disclose the details of its U.S. government contracts, but its software is used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to surveil immigrants. It closed $1.18 billion in U.S. commercial total contract value last quarter, up 45%.
Software
Atlassian cloud revenue climbs, shares up 25%
Software company Atlassian beat earnings and revenue estimates last quarter as cloud revenue rose, with shares surging 24.8% to rebound from their recent decline. Earnings per share were US$1.75, rising from $0.97 one year ago and above the Zacks consensus estimate of $1.31. Revenue was up 32% to $1.79 billion, surpassing estimates by 5.52%. “Our strong Q3 results show the power of our strategy in action, with total revenue growing 32% year-over-year to $1.8 billion, as customers sign bigger, longer-term commitments, and connect their teams and workflows on our AI-powered platform,” said CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes. “The momentum across our three strategic priorities of Enterprise, AI, and the System of Work continues to build, and I’m excited about the significant opportunity ahead to drive durable, profitable growth as we scale,” said CFO James Chuong. The company’s cloud revenue grew 29% to $1.13 billion. It had 55,913 customers with more than $10,000 in cloud annualised recurring revenue, a 10% increase. Atlassian posted a $56.23 million operating loss last quarter due to restructuring charges of $223.8 million. Its adjusted operating income was $456.54 million, up from $261.50 million. Its guidance for its fisca

Software
Synopsys stock climbs after investment from Elliot
The stock of big chip-design software maker, Synopsys, has risen after activist investor Elliot Management made a multi-billion-dollar investment in the company. People familiar with the matter said Elliot plans to engage with Synopsys to push the business to make more money from its software and services. “Synopsys is essential to the global chip industry,” Elliott Managing Partner Jesse Cohn told The Wall Street Journal. “As AI drives a step change in chip complexity and capital investment, Synopsys is uniquely positioned to benefit from this growth.” Following the investment, the stock for Synopsys grew 2.89% to US$432.48, and its market cap is $82.85 billion. Elliot hasn’t revealed the exact value of the investment. The firm also took a $1 billion stake in Pinterest earlier this month. This comes as the semiconductor arms race grows, as companies pour resources into designing AI chips. Global chip sales hit $792 billion last year and are expected to surpass $1 trillion by the end of this year, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association. In December, Nvidia purchased $2 billion of Synosys common stock in a computing power partnership.
Software
Record Q1 fails to stop Adobe plunging as CEO departs
Shares in Adobe Inc fell almost 7% after it announced its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) would step down, despite posting record results for the first quarter of the 2026 financial year (Q1 FY26). The global software company, which created the PDF format, said Shantanu Narayen had decided to transition from his position as CEO after 18 years, once a successor was appointed, but would remain Chair of the Board. Lead Independent Director Frank Calderoni will Chair a special committee to direct the process to consider internal and external candidates. Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) shares closed $3.92 (1.43%) lower at US$269.78 on Thursday (Friday AEDT), capitalising the company at US$109.97 trillion (A$1.55 trillion), before diving $18.26 (6.77%) in after-hours trading to $251.52. The company also announced net income rose 4% to $1.889 billion in the three months ended 27 February, and diluted income per share increased 11% to $4.60 on revenue which climbed 12% to $6.4 billion. “Adobe delivered record Q1 results with AI-first ARR (annualised recurring revenue) more than tripling year over year (to $26.06 billion) and subscription revenue growing 13%,” Narayen said in a news release. “Our mission to empower everyone to create
Software
Google updates app store billing and fee structure
Google has announced major changes to its Android app store billing and fee structure. The Alphabet Inc unit said it would lower the commission it takes from developers and expand payment options. Google’s President of Android Ecosystem, Sameer Samat, said the company was announcing substantial updates to its business model with more billing options, a program for registered app stores, lower fees and new programs for developers. “This is a significant evolution, and we plan to share additional details in the coming months,” Samat wrote in a blog. Mobile app developers will be able to use their own billing systems alongside Google Play's systems and direct users to their own websites for purchases. It will also be easier for users to download and install third-party app stores on their Android devices with the changes starting outside the United States first under a staggered schedule. The move resolves its long-running dispute with Epic Games and paves the way for the return of the free online video game Fortnite to the Play Store. In a 2020 anti-trust lawsuit, Epic accused Google of illegally monopolising how users ⁠access apps and make in-app purchases on Android devices before the two companies reached a s
Software
Render raises funding at US$1.5bn valuation
Cloud startup Render has raised US$100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company is benefitting from the people asking AI models to write software for them, and seeking advice on where to run new programs in a cloud computing world dominated by Amazon, OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet and Nvidia. Render’s co-founder and CEO, Anurag Goel, told CNBC that the company’s revenue growth is well over 100%, and more than 4.5 million developers use its tools. Goel also said that the company has benefited from a generational shift in how developers choose cloud developers. “Hyperscalers are no longer the default for teams that want to move fast. AI-assisted coding means developers can build faster than ever, and they need a cloud that can keep up. That's what Render delivers,” Goel said in a media release. Render was founded in 2018 and is San Francisco-based with around 100 employees. Investors include 01A, Addition, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst and Georgian Partners. With the new capital, Render will hire additional technical staff members to build features. The cloud startup runs its software on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform but is testing the use of its own servers. Expanding the