Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff just tossed an already hot potato back to five hungry activist investors.
The tech titan beat Wall Street earnings estimates and served up surprisingly strong full-year profit guidance after the close on Wednesday, as reported by Yahoo Finance's Allie Garfinkle. The company also unveiled a new $20 billion stock buyback plan and told investors on an earnings call it "disbanded" its internal M&A committee, an important signal to investors clamoring for tighter spending.
Shares surged 16% in pre-market trading, and Salesforce's ticker page rocketed up the most visited list on the Yahoo Finance platform.
"We have hit the hyper-space button," Benioff told Yahoo Finance, referring to initiatives to move faster and improve profitability.
The barrage of seemingly positive earnings news runs counter to the activist investor and executive departure narrative that has descended on Salesforce in recent months.
Co-CEO Bret Taylor is no longer co-CEO of Salesforce — instead he's off to launch an A.I. startup, the serial entrepreneur told Yahoo Finance. Slack founder Stewart Butterfield, who stayed on when the company was acquired by Salesforce, is still founder but no longer with the parent company.
The company is also staring down the barrel of five sharks in the field of activist money management: Elliott Management, Starboard Value, Inclusive Capital, ValueAct, and Third Point.
[Read More: Salesforce's activist investors: Who are they, and what do they want?]
This is an unprecedented activist versus public company battle, pros have said to Yahoo Finance. Sources have told Yahoo Finance the activist group is clamoring for much better profit margins, a halt on acquisitions, and succession plan to Benioff as CEO.
A source familiar with Elliott's thinking tells Yahoo Finance discussions with Salesforce have been "intense" and no settlement has been reached. Elliott plans to nominate several people to Salesforce's board and would like further expense cuts, the source said.
"Salesforce's set of announcements today represents progress towards regaining investor trust. The acceleration of margin targets, commitment to responsible capital-return priorities, creation of a business transformation committee and disbanding of the M&A committee are necessary steps forward. These steps are consistent with our recommendations, and we believe they will help restore value at Salesforce," Elliott said in a statement late on Wednesday.
It's unclear if Salesforce's fresh overtures to the activists — such as the upped buyback plan, shout-out to new cost-cutting efforts by working with Bain, a promise of a 27% operating margin in 2023 (and 30% by 1Q24) and pulling back on M&A — will satisfy the group.
Benioff didn't indicate if a resolution with the activists was near. Elliott's statement suggests more work needs to be done, however.
Benioff added that large acquisitions were likely off the table for the foreseeable future.
"Shareholders now part of the Ohana with significant upside to growth + profitability," Citi analyst Tyler Radke said.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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