The Year In Review: Salesforce -- Trefis

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) continued its stellar performance in 2016, with its top line growing at more than 25% in the first three quarters of the fiscal year and beating market expectations. Additionally, the company's added focus on improving its bottom line started to pay dividends, with its earnings per share for the first nine months growing appreciably from -$0.03 in 2015 to $0.34 in 2016. Moreover, during the year, Salesforce made a number of acquisitions and made a push in the e-commerce and artificial intelligence domains, opening up avenues for further growth. Apart from this, the company also affirmed its goal of $10 billion in revenues, which it expects to achieve by the end of next year. Despite a good performance in the first three quarters of the year, Salesforce's stock is currently trading 12% lower than its price in January, owing to a tougher market environment and relatively soft performance in the second quarter.