Salesforce posts slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2010

(Reuters) -Salesforce Inc posted an 11% rise in quarterly revenue, its slowest pace of growth in 13 years, as companies dialed back spending on cloud-based software offerings in an uncertain economy.

Shares of the San Francisco, California-based company fell nearly 5% in trading after the bell. They have surged by more than two-thirds so far this year and rose to their highest in about 16 months in regular trading on Wednesday.

Growth at major cloud services players from Microsoft Corp to Amazon.com Inc has come under pressure this year as businesses undertake belt-tightening measures to weather the impact of rising interest rates and a potential economic slowdown.

Revenue for Salesforce was $8.25 billion for the quarter ended April 30, while analysts were expecting $8.18 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES.

RBC analyst Rishi Jaluria attributed the stock’s fall in extended trading to its surge this year and the company’s narrow revenue beat relative to its historical performance.

The company faces stiff competition from deep-pocketed legacy vendors such as Oracle in a crowded cloud-computing market.

Salesforce expects revenue of between $8.51 billion and $8.53 billion for the current quarter, representing growth of about 10% from last year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.49 billion.

On an adjusted basis, it earned $1.69 per share, compared with the estimates of $1.61 per share.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)