What's going on?

Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly results earlier this week, and investors sent the cloud computing giant�s shares up 8%.

What does this mean?

Salesforce�s cloud products are still going down well with businesses that are finessing their hybrid working models. So well, in fact, that the provider seems to have shrugged off the wider slowdown that�s hobbled its tech rivals: it made 55% more in subscription revenue from its platforms division last quarter than the same time last year, making it the company�s fastest-growing segment. One of those platforms was Slack, which continues to outperform: the number of customers who spent more than $100,000 on the messaging software grew by more than 40% for the fourth quarter in a row. All told, Salesforce�s total revenue climbed by a better-than-expected 24% � sustaining the 20%-or-more growth streak it�s been on since at least 2016.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: The future is a mishmash.
Salesforce is feeling good about its chances for the rest of the year too: the company reported that the value of deals customers have signed but not yet closed was up 21% last quarter. That suggests there�s more revenue set to come in going forward. There are concerns, mind you: Salesforce said it�s expecting to make $600 million less in revenue this year than it would do if it weren�t for rising interest rates and a strong US dollar, which make its international revenue worth less when converted back to its home currency.

Zooming out: The pursuit of HP-ness.
This new business landscape is benefiting HP too: the PC-maker�s own quarterly results came in better than expected on Tuesday, despite a dropoff in consumer sales as shoppers cut down on nice-to-haves. HP�s commercial segment now represents 65% of its business, and it�s expecting its recent acquisition of remote-working specialist Poly � due to be completed at the end of the year � to give it another boost.