Salesforce posts 14% cRPO growth: The SaaSpocalypse is over (for now)

Salesforce posts 14% cRPO growth: The SaaSpocalypse is over (for now)

2d ago
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The Gist

  • Salesforce Q2 revenue hits $11.3B, up 11% YoY
  • cRPO growth accelerates to 14%, signaling future revenue reacceleration
  • $5.90 non-GAAP EPS includes $2.53 from Anthropic stake
  • FY27 guidance raised to $46.1B-$46.4B
Key Quotes

Contracted-but-unrecognized revenue growing 3 points faster than recognized revenue is the number worth spending time on, because revenue at a company this size reflects deals signed 12 to 24 months ago while cRPO reflects what got signed in the last 90 days.

Robin Washington

Take the value of Slack. Then take the value of our Anthropic stock. That has been like half our value.

Marc Benioff
Key Insights
  • Salesforce's cRPO (current remaining performance obligation) accelerated to 14% growth, indicating strong recent deal signings and potential future revenue growth.
  • The market is heavily valuing companies based on their order book growth, with Salesforce's stock rising 23% on 14% cRPO growth and Atlassian seeing a 35% move on 44% RPO growth.
  • Salesforce's organic revenue growth (excluding acquisitions like Informatica) was 6.4%, with core apps growing at 5.7% organically - slower than overall revenue growth.
  • AI-related products (Agentforce, Data 360) now represent about 8.6% of Salesforce's business, with 3% of accounts using Agentforce in production.
  • Salesforce is experimenting with multiple pricing models for AI products (per user, per agent, per consumption, and outcome-based pricing).
  • The SaaS market may be past the panic selling phase of earlier in the year, with Salesforce's strong results lifting other B2B stocks.
Actionable Takeaways
  • Focus on net new annual order value growth as a leading indicator of future revenue acceleration, as Salesforce has done with their compensation structure.
  • Monitor and clearly communicate your current remaining performance obligation (cRPO/RPO) metrics, as the market is currently valuing companies heavily based on these growth rates.
  • Experiment with multiple pricing models for AI/automation products (per user, per consumption, outcome-based) to find what works best for different customer segments.
  • When reporting AI product growth, provide clear definitions and comparables to avoid ambiguity about true organic growth rates.
Data Points
  • 14% (cRPO (current remaining performance obligation) growth year-over-year)
  • 11% (Total revenue growth year-over-year)
  • $33.5B (Current remaining performance obligation)
  • 6.4% (Organic revenue growth (excluding Informatica acquisition))
  • 8.6% (AI-related products (Agentforce + Data 360) as percentage of total business)
  • 3% (Percentage of accounts using Agentforce in production)
  • 23% (Stock price increase following earnings)
  • $1.5B (Agentforce ARR)

RevBots.ai View:

The cRPO/revenue growth gap shows enterprise buyers are committing to longer-term SaaS contracts again, but the EPS boost comes from financial engineering, not core operations.

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