While Salesforce.com's (CRM) Q1 Results Inline, Guidance Disappoints

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) posted a quarterly profit on Thursday that was in line with the Wall Street expectations, however investors were not impressed and are selling the stock amid a weak full year outlook.

The enterprise software company reported first-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share excluding one-time items, in line with the market consensus.

Revenue for Salesforce, which competes with SAP AG, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) and NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), jumped 24 percent to $377 million in the three month period ended April 30, beating the analyst estimate of $368 million.

Subscription and support revenues increased 24 percent to $351 million, while revenue from professional services rose 13 percent to $26 million in the period on a year-over-year basis.

“We are delighted to report that revenue grew 24 percent to propel salesforce.com past the $1.5 billion annual revenue run rate,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. “Operating cash flow grew to a record $143 million, and we added 4,800 net new customers during the quarter, also a new record. It was an outstanding quarter for salesforce.com.”

Looking forward, the company raised its full year 2011 sales guidance to $1.545-$1.555 billion, compared to the Street’s expectation of $1.54 billion. Salesforce.com also sees earnings for the full year in the range of $1.13 to $1.15 per share, below the market estimate of $1.28 per share.

Shares of Salesforce.com have fallen more than 5% in the after-hours session; the stock last traded at $74.60.

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