Salesforce.com (CRM) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Salesforce.com (CRM) closed the most recent trading day at $226.27, moving +0.09% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.97%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.96%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.23%.

Coming into today, shares of the customer-management software developer had lost 10.49% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 4.93%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.78%.

Salesforce.com will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Salesforce.com is projected to report earnings of $0.73 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 29.81%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $7.23 billion, up 24.28% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.68 per share and revenue of $26.4 billion, which would represent changes of -4.88% and +24.2%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Salesforce.com should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Salesforce.com is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Digging into valuation, Salesforce.com currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 48.33. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 35.29, which means Salesforce.com is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that CRM has a PEG ratio of 2.89 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CRM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.63 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 102, putting it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow CRM in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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