Salesforce.com posted fiscal third-quarter results that exceeded estimates
After closing at a new record high during yesterday's session, Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stepped into the earnings confessional with some positive results. The company posted fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that came in well above Wall Street's estimates, just a few days before the equity is scheduled to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) on Monday, August 31. At last check, the shares of Salesforce stock are up 26% to trade at $272.25, on track to mark its best day ever with a fresh record intraday and closing high. In response, the security has received no fewer than 22 bull notes already today.
Digging deeper, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs are just a few major firms that issued price-target hikes -- to $300, $270, and $252, respectively -- for CRM. Meanwhile, the consensus 12-month target price of $258.92 is now a 5.8% deficit to current levels. Sentiment over CRM has already been overwhelmingly bullish, with all of the 20 of the 22 in coverage calling it a "buy" or "strong buy," versus one "hold" and one "strong sell."
The optimism today should come as no surprise, as this most recent surge into all-time high territory means the stock is up a staggering 78% year-over-year. Additionally, the equity, which is set for its third-straight win, has a solid layer of support in place from its 40-day moving average -- a trendline that's acted as a solid floor since April.
Lastly, Salesforce stock sports a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.36 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits in the 76th annual percentile of its annual range, which means the appetite for these bullish bets has been slightly larger than usual. Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.46 sits in the lowest percentile of its annual range, suggesting a heavy call bias. In other words, there's a lot of options-related optimism circling in the options pits.