Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check in on a company’s progress, especially compared to other peers in the same sector. Today we are looking at Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH), and the best and worst performers in the sales software group.

Companies need to be able to interact with and sell to their customers as efficiently as possible. This reality coupled with the ongoing migration of enterprises to the cloud drives demand for cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software that integrates data analytics with sales and marketing functions.

The 4 sales software stocks we track reported a decent Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 1.9% while next quarter's revenue guidance was in line with consensus. Valuation multiples for growth stocks have reverted to their historical means after reaching highs in early 2021, but sales software stocks held their ground better than others, with share prices down 3.9% on average since the previous earnings results.

Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH)

Founded in Chennai, India in 2010 with the idea of creating a “fresh” helpdesk product, Freshworks (NASDAQ: FRSH) offers a broad range of software targeted at small and medium-sized businesses.

Freshworks reported revenues of $160.1 million, up 20.2% year on year, topping analyst expectations by 1%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with accelerating growth in large customers and a solid beat of analysts' billings estimates.

“At Freshworks, we delivered a strong finish to the year, outperforming our financial estimates across the board in Q4,” said Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and Founder of Freshworks.

The stock is down 16.4% since the results and currently trades at $18.24.

We think Freshworks is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it's free.

Best Q4: HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS)

Started in 2006 by two MIT grad students, HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS) is a software-as-a-service platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses market themselves, sell, and get found on the internet.

HubSpot reported revenues of $581.9 million, up 23.9% year on year, outperforming analyst expectations by 4.1%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' billings estimates.

HubSpot delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat, fastest revenue growth, and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 10,993 customers to reach a total of 205,091. The stock is down 0.4% since the results and currently trades at $626.56.

Is now the time to buy HubSpot? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Slowest Q4: Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Launched in 1999 from a rented one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco by Marc Benioff and his three co-founders, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is a software-as-a-service platform that helps companies access, manage, and share sales information.

Salesforce reported revenues of $9.29 billion, up 10.8% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a slower quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts' expectations.

Salesforce had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. The stock is up 1.2% since the results and currently trades at $303.8.

Read our full analysis of Salesforce's results here.

ZoomInfo (NASDAQ:ZI)

Founded in 2007 as DiscoveryOrg and renamed after a merger in 2019, ZoomInfo (NASDAQ:ZI) is a software as a service product that provides sales departments with access to a database of prospective clients.

ZoomInfo reported revenues of $316.4 million, up 4.9% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 1.9%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next year and decelerating growth in large customers.

ZoomInfo had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The company lost 49 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually and ended up with a total of 1,820. The stock is down 0% since the results and currently trades at $16.05.

Read our full, actionable report on ZoomInfo here, it's free.

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