Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares gapped down about 8.6% — the stock opened at $177.56 after closing at $189.80 and was last near $172.90 on heavy volume, signaling near-term selling pressure.
• Company fundamentals and shareholder actions remain supportive: Salesforce beat EPS estimates ($3.81 vs. $3.05), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, and authorized a $25 billion buyback, indicating management confidence.
• Analyst and market sentiment is mixed: several firms trimmed targets citing AI competition and execution risk, but the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target around $279, leaving medium-term upside debated amid near-term volatility.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $189.80, but opened at $177.56. Salesforce shares last traded at $172.9020, with a volume of 4,391,746 shares traded.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded Google Cloud partnership lets AI agents execute end-to-end workflows across Slack, Google Workspace and Salesforce — this materially improves product stickiness and cross-platform customer value. Salesforce and Google Cloud Enable AI Agents...
• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce shows rapid adoption (Agentforce ARR and agentic actions growth cited by analysts), supporting Salesforce’s pivot to usage-based AI pricing — a potential revenue accelerator if usage scales. Salesforce: AI Is A True Acceleration Driver...
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of a possible $25B buyback and upbeat analyst commentary have boosted sentiment by signaling management focus on shareholder returns and capital allocation. Salesforce (CRM) Stock: Google Partnership, $25B Buyback...
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with rivals (Oracle, Adobe) and coverage calling CRM a momentum/valuation play create mixed analyst signals — useful context but no single decisive catalyst. Head-To-Head Comparison: Oracle versus Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler cut its price target (from $250 to $215) while keeping an Overweight rating, citing rising AI competition in enterprise software — this raises near-term estimates risk and can pressure sentiment. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) PT Reduced...
• Negative Sentiment: Investor letters and coverage note AI-disruption fears that weighed on Q1, underscoring that competitive dynamics and execution on new pricing models remain risk factors. AI Disruption Fears Pressured Salesforce in Q1
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish mentions (Jim Cramer saying he wouldn’t sell; reports Michael Burry is buying) can stabilize investor psychology and attract value-oriented buyers. Jim Cramer on Salesforce...
• Negative Sentiment: Reminders of last year’s big drawdown (articles recounting the 30% plunge) keep risk awareness high; even with bullish medium-term forecasts, some investors remain cautious about near-term volatility. Salesforce (CRM) Plunges 30% in 2025...

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Salesforce Trading Down 8.6%

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $187.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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