UPDATE: Citigroup Raises PT to $163 on Salesforce

Citigroup raises its target on Buy-rated Salesforce CRM up $11 to $163 on underlying growth and favorable invoicing driving a strong January quarter. Citigroup had the following takeaways on key metrics: "1) Billings, while helped by a favorable shift away from quarterly to annual billing and several big pre-payments, grew 35%, above our 34% estimate and above consensus of 32%. 2) Off-balance-sheet backlog grew by 47% to $2.2B, a figure that points to very healthy growth despite invoicing shifts that hurt this metric (more upfront invoicing reduces backlog). Contract lengths were steady, implying that invoicing pull-forwards is not mortgaging top line in future periods. 3) Deferred commissions – we estimate the cash commissions paid out for new bookings grew 43% Y/Y, the fourth consecutive quarter of acceleration." CRM closed at $131.77 a share on Thursday.