What's going on?

Big US tech is under fire home and abroad, but Salesforce�s midichlorian count was high late last week � and its stock rose 6% after its better-than-expected quarterly report.

What does this mean?

The Silicon Valley darling�s software is focused on helping companies manage their customer relationships via the cloud, and its two biggest products continued to grow last quarter. That helped it deliver more revenue and profit than investors had expected. But that wasn�t all: the company also increased its earnings forecast for the rest of this year. It wasn�t a Jedi mind trick: Salesforce had its recent acquisitions of analytics firms Tableau and ClickSoftware partly to thank for an uplift in revenue.

Why should I care?

For markets: Don�t underestimate Salesforce.

Investors bought up Salesforce�s shares on Friday � unsurprisingly, given that higher forecasted earnings should make for a more valuable stock (if the company�s prediction is accurate). But investors were also inspired to look across the Atlantic, and they bought up shares of Europe�s largest tech company, SAP, which also rose on Friday. SAP�s earnings update disappointed investors last quarter, but they may expect its cloud business to be blown in the same direction as Salesforce�s � vindicating the German company�s increased investment in the area.

For you personally: These aren�t the droids you�re looking for.

Facebook and Google have attracted lots of backlash for the treasure trove of data they have on you � and that they use to help advertisers (as well as more nefarious types) reach you. But the data you give brands, retailers, and platforms is increasingly being analyzed by firms like Tableau (one of Salesforce�s new businesses) and Looker (a recent purchase of, surprise surprise, Google). The idea is that better interpretation of data should help companies sell even more products more efficiently. If data�s the new gold, you, fellow Finimizer, are a goldmine�