JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised Salesforce’s price target from $250 to $265 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 5.15% upside from the prior close. The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with a $260.41 target.
• Salesforce reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $5.90 versus the $3.27 consensus and revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year. Management also raised fiscal 2027 guidance, supported by accelerating AI-related demand and stronger free cash flow.
• Salesforce shares surged to $252.02, while institutional investors own 80.43% of the stock. However, approximately $2.6 billion of reported profit came from strategic investment gains, which may make the earnings beat less reflective of recurring operations.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $250.00 to $265.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the CRM provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.15% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Susquehanna began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $260.41.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $46.40 on Thursday, hitting $252.02. The company had a trading volume of 44,615,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,829,271. The stock has a market cap of $206.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $177.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.60. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13,260.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 188,085,056 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $29,465,405,000 after purchasing an additional 186,677,290 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,286,909,000 after buying an additional 659,573 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $12,552,896,000 after buying an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after buying an additional 2,669,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce reported adjusted Q2 earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, slightly ahead of expectations. Salesforce Stock Soars After Strong Results, Raised Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised fiscal 2027 guidance to $46.1 billion–$46.4 billion in revenue and $16.67–$16.71 in EPS. Q3 EPS guidance of $3.42–$3.44 also exceeded the $3.16 analyst consensus, reinforcing expectations for improving growth and profitability. Salesforce Raises Annual Revenue Forecasts on AI Product Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying demand indicators were encouraging: current remaining performance obligations accelerated 14% in constant currency, free cash flow grew 81%, and Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion. Agentforce ARR alone reached approximately $1.5 billion, suggesting customers are moving beyond AI experimentation. Salesforce Q2 Results and the SaaSpocalypse Bear Case
• Positive Sentiment: The expanded Anthropic relationship, branded “Claudeforce,” integrates Claude with Salesforce’s CRM data, workflows, governance, and Agentforce tools. Investors view the partnership as evidence that Salesforce can monetize AI rather than be displaced by it. Salesforce and Anthropic Announce Claudeforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts broadly raised price targets, including Truist at $300 and Needham at $400, although several firms retained neutral or underperform ratings with targets below the current trading level. Salesforce Analyst Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Reported profit benefited materially from approximately $2.6 billion in gains on strategic investments, including its Anthropic stake. That makes the earnings beat less representative of recurring operating performance and could temper enthusiasm if investors focus on the one-time benefit. Salesforce Stock Jumps on AI Growth and Investment Gain

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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