Salesforce.com Tops Estimates; Shares Plunge

Enterprise software maker Salesforce.com CRM reported a third-quarter loss of $3.76 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $21 million, or 15 cents a share, after the bell today. On an adjusted basis, Salesforce.com earned 34 cents topping the 31 cents Wall Street expected. Revenue climbed to $584 million from $429 million, beating the $572 million analysts expected. All that wasn't enough to keep shares of Salesforce.com from plunging 10% in the after-hours session. That comes on top of a heavy volume 4.3% drop in regular trading. For its fiscal fourth quarter, Salesforce estimates it will lose between 5 cents and 6 cents a share, but earn between 39 cents and 40 cents a share excluding certain items, according to MarketWatch. As Barron's reported today, Salesforce relies on Europe for 20% of its revenue and the woes of the continent's sovereign debt crisis could be be crimping the company's results.