Global stocks ended a three-week losing streak as a light economic data calendar enabled investors to pay more attention to company news. The blue-chip S&P 500 and technology focussed Nasdaq indices gained 1.7% and 1.8% respectively.
Salesforce was one of the biggest movers of the week, gaining 15% in the wake of reporting its earnings. The cloud-based customer relationship platform, a constituent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2020, generated revenue of $8.38 billion in the fourth quarter, 14% ahead of the same period a year earlier, and upgraded its earnings guidance.
Salesforce has been under strong pressure from a group of activist investors, including Elliott Management and Third Point, after its share price fell almost 60% from its pandemic peak heading into 2023. In a bid to appease them, CEO and co-founder Marc Benioff revealed in January he would cut more than 7,000 jobs, around a tenth of its workforce, and appointed three new directors to the board.
TEAM plc (LON:TEAM) is building a new wealth, asset management and complementary financial services group. With a focus on the UK, Crown Dependencies and International Finance Centres, the strategy is to build local businesses of scale around TEAM’s core skill of providing investment management services.