Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 1.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 1.9% to $259.39 amid lighter-than-average trading volume, as investors appeared to take profits following a strong earnings-driven rally.
• The company reported strong momentum, including fiscal second-quarter revenue of $11.345 billion, up 11% year over year, while Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue surged more than 210% to nearly $3.9 billion.
• Despite favorable AI growth, an Anthropic partnership and mostly bullish analyst coverage, overbought technical conditions and macro concerns about delayed Federal Reserve easing continue to pressure the stock; analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $266.50 target.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares traded down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $257.82 and last traded at $259.39. Approximately 10,332,259 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 14,082,657 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.43.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI growth is accelerating: Salesforce reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $11.345 billion, up 11% year over year. Combined Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue rose more than 210% to nearly $3.9 billion, while Agentforce ARR surpassed $1.5 billion after growing more than 240%. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership strengthens the AI narrative: The Claudeforce collaboration, which combines Anthropic’s Claude models with Salesforce’s CRM platform, is being viewed as a potential source of new enterprise customers and revenue. Analysts argue the deal helps counter concerns that generative AI could disrupt traditional software providers. Salesforce May Have Found an Answer to the AI Disruption Threat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed a Buy rating and said business trends are improving. These calls support the view that the recent earnings momentum can continue. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Salesforce’s board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The approximately 0.7% yield adds shareholder support but is unlikely to materially change the stock’s growth-driven valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technical risks are elevated: Salesforce has become one of the strongest-performing technology stocks since June, and commentary describes CRM as overbought after its earnings-driven advance. Investors may therefore be taking profits or waiting for a pullback despite the favorable fundamentals. Salesforce Could Still Go Higher Despite Being Overbought
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressure is a headwind: Concerns that strong economic data could delay or reverse expected Federal Reserve easing have weighed on software valuations broadly, creating pressure even for companies with strong earnings and AI growth.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Salesforce from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company's fifty day moving average is $189.85 and its 200-day moving average is $184.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.Salesforce's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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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