Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is putting to rest right out of the gate in 2023 that he's serious about improving profit margins, which Wall Street has pushed his leadership team to do in recent years.
On Wednesday, Salesforce said it would slash 10% of its workforce and execute select real estate exits and office space reductions. The company declined to comment to Yahoo Finance on what real estate it would be exiting or offices it would be reducing.
In any case, the company now joins the likes of Meta, Snap, and other tech giants by uncorking a major cost-cutting initiative amid a more muted demand backdrop.
"I’ve been thinking a lot about how we came to this moment," Benioff said in a letter to employees. "As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that."
The company estimates it will incur $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion in charges related with the actions.
Salesforce shares — which fell about 44% in 2022 — rose 3.4% in afternoon trading on the news.
The moves come as Salesforce is getting pushed by Wall Street to bolster margins following a string of high-profile deals such as Slack, Tableau, and Mulesoft.
Benioff has previously pushed back on the view that Salesforce isn't listening to investor concerns.
"For us, I think that the market doesn't fully appreciate how committed we are to growth and margins," Benioff told Yahoo Finance Live at the software giant's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco in late September.
Salesforce has committed to a 25% operating margin by calendar year 2025. If hit, it would mark a notable increase from 2022's goal of 20.4%.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
Click here for the latest trending stock tickers of the Yahoo Finance platform
Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube
Related Quotes
The 80th Golden Globe Awards are set to return to the airwaves after taking last year off — though a ceremony was held, it wasn’t televised or attended by any of the nominated talent. The show will move from its usual Sunday night spot to 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to Jan. 10 on NBC […]
Bed Bath & Beyond may have one foot in the retail grave as its struggles continued ahead of the holiday season.
It’s no secret that the tech sector took a pounding in last year’s bearish market. In fact, the tech-heavy NASDAQ index lost more than 33% during 2022, leading the way in the market decline. But savvy investors have long bet that what goes down must come back up. Daniel Ives, Wedbush’s well-known tech bull, sees reasons for hope in the tech sector in 2023. In fact, he sees the sector making a significant bounce, and, at least in part, he credits the current downturn for setting up that possibili
These innovative stocks are surefire buys following a peak decline of 38% in the growth-driven Nasdaq Composite.
As CES 2023 draws to a close this weekend much of the attention in the chip world was lauded on companies like Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Nvidia Corp. but a lower profile chip maker appears better positioned coming out of the convention.
Dividend stocks are the Swiss army knives of the stock market. When dividend stocks go up, you make money. When they don’t go up — you still make money (from the dividend). Heck, even when a dividend stock goes down in price, it’s not all bad news, because the dividend yield (the absolute dividend amount, divided by the stock price) gets richer the more the stock falls in price. Knowing all this, wouldn’t you like to own find great dividend stocks? Of course you would! Using the TipRanks platfor
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) have very little in common except for the fact that both stocks are top 10 holdings in the Nasdaq Composite and have been exceptional investments over the past decade. Here's the buy case for Tesla and Apple right now so you can decide which stock — or both, or neither — is right for you.
Stocks of all the oil giants did very nicely in 2022. But investors valued the two U.S. giants more highly than their U.K. counterparts. The reason may lie in how the companies are transitioning to renewable energy.
ZIM (ZIM) has received quite a bit of attention from Zacks.com users lately. Therefore, it is wise to be aware of the facts that can impact the stock's prospects.
BRETT ARENDS'S ROI You could call it crazy. You could call it genius. Or maybe you could call it a little of both. We’re talking about a simple portfolio that absolutely anyone could follow in their own 401(k) or IRA or retirement account.
Warren Buffett and his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) spent more money buying stocks in 2022 than they did in any other year of the 21st century (and maybe ever), according to filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission. While we won't know the final tally for the year until the fourth-quarter numbers are published, through the first three quarters, Berkshire Hathaway spent over $66 billion on equities. Interestingly, Berkshire Hathaway did the large majority of its buying early in the year, purchasing more than $51 billion of stocks in the first quarter.
If you've ever wondered why Wall Street pays so much attention to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, look no further than his track record as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B). Since becoming CEO in 1965, the Oracle of Omaha has nearly doubled the average annual total return of the broad-based S&P 500, including dividends (20.1% versus 10.5%). Despite a 19% decline in the S&P 500 last year, Berkshire Hathaway's stock gained 4%.
Apart from the distribution hike, Enterprise Products (EPD) is also repurchasing shares for returning capital to unit holders.
The Chinese billionaire entrepreneur is taking a step further away from the business empire he created decades ago.
The top five biotech stocks today have several commonalities: strong ratings. Some also show promising charts and are Tech Leaders.
Analysts say minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting delivered an important message to investors: big stock market rallies are unwelcome.
The major indexes and leading stocks jump on Fed-friendly economic data. But is this another head fake?
Yahoo Finance Live’s Brian Sozzi discusses a Morgan Stanley analyst’s defense against Apple stock.
The electric-vehicle leader has been hammered by China lockdowns, a possible recession, and CEO Musk’s antics at Twitter. But the company has real strengths and cheap shares.
Among the chipmakers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) are two names that often come up. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, also known as TSMC, is only a producer of chips — not a marketer. Its customers are tech giants that need chips produced for their products, like Apple (its largest customer), AMD, Nvidia, and even Intel itself.
Salesforce cuts 10% of its workforce: 'We hired too many people' – Yahoo Finance
