Salesforce.com projects $1 billion in revenue for next fiscal year

Salesforce.com on Thursday reported third quarter earnings of $6.5 million, or 5 cents a share, on revenue of $192.8 million. The company also ended the third quarter with 38,100 net paying customers, up 41 percent from a year ago.

The results topped Wall Street estimates calling for a profit of 3 cents a share on revenue of $190 million, according to Thomson Financial. As for the fourth quarter, Salesforce.com said it sees a profit of 3 cents a share to 4 cents a share on revenue between $206 million to $208 million. For Salesforce.com's fiscal year, the company is projecting earnings of 12 cents a share to 13 cents a share on revenue of $737 million to $739 million. That outlook is a better than expectations.

A few key numbers from the financial statement:

• Salesforce expects to have $1 billion to $1.02 billion in revenue for the fiscal year coming up.
• Subscription and support revenue was $176.4 million. Professional services revenue was $16.4 million.
• The company added 2,800 net paying customers in the third quarter, up 8 percent from the second quarter.
• Seventy-three percent of Salesforce.com's revenue comes from the Americas with 18 percent from Europe and the remainder from Asia Pacific.