As Q4 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter's best and worst performers amongst the sales software stocks, including ZoomInfo (NASDAQ:ZI) and its peers.

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. Investors abandoned cash-burning companies to buy stocks with higher margins of safety, but sales software stocks held their ground better than others, with share prices down 3.7% on average since the previous earnings results.

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, topping analyst expectations by 1.9%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' billings estimates but underwhelming revenue guidance for the next year.

“We ended the year strong, with better-than-expected sequential revenue growth, while we delivered another year of profitability and free cash flow,” said Henry Schuck, ZoomInfo Founder and CEO.

ZoomInfo delivered the slowest revenue growth of the whole group. The company lost 49 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually and ended up with a total of 1,820. The stock is flat since the results and currently trades at $16.05.

Is now the time to buy ZoomInfo? Access our full analysis of the earnings results 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 pulled off 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 up 1.1% since the results and currently trades at $636.

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

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, suggesting growth will slow down.

Salesforce had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. The stock is up 0.6% since the results and currently trades at $302.

Read our full analysis of Salesforce's results here.

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, surpassing 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.

The company added 710 enterprise customers paying more than $5,000 annually to reach a total of 20,261. The stock is down 16.3% since the results and currently trades at $18.25.

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

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