Dan Goldman’s CRM Bet Pays Off Despite Mixed Reaction to Earnings

Salesforce Inc (CRM:US) announced its first fiscal quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating analyst estimates and improving its margins. The company announced an adjusted EPS of $1.69 with revenue of $8.25 billion.

The maker of enterprise software comfortably beat analyst estimates with its earnings. But it seemed the market was more focused on the company’s announcements on AI. The management talked about its AI initiatives but emphasized that it would take time for these initiatives to translate to increased revenues. 

Salesforce laid off 10% of its workforce earlier this year and the restructuring is now acting as a headwind for the company. The cost-cutting initiatives mean they might not have enough resources to expand into the global market. 

On the positive side, the company did improve its operating margins by 9%, increasing to 27.6% for the quarter. But this wasn’t enough to stop the stock from falling. The day after the earnings announcement, the stock opened almost 7% lower than its close the previous day.

Daniel Goldman, the Democrat Representative for the 10th Congressional District of New York, has done well trading the stock. In January, when Salesforce was announcing layoffs, Goldman bought $100,001 - $250,000 on the day the stock closed at $167.97. He then added to his position in March, buying $15,001 - $50,000 on March 6, when CRM shares closed at $183.80.  

CRM stock closed at $212.90 on Thursday. It is up about 58% YTD and Goldman has been able to capitalize on most of that increase with his timely position in the stock.