Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 2.8% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Reporting change: Salesforce will rework revenue reporting from FY27 to align with its AI-led "Agentic Enterprise" strategy, aiming to give clearer visibility into AI-driven revenue and potentially re-rate valuation multiples.
• Earnings, dividend & buyback: Salesforce beat the quarter with $3.81 EPS vs. $3.05 and $11.20B revenue (up 12.1%), set FY27 EPS guidance near 13.11–13.19, raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44, and approved a $25 billion share buyback.
• Market reaction & analyst view: Shares rose 2.8% to about $186 on lower volume, while analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target around $279.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 2.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $188.58 and last traded at $186.27. Approximately 10,897,624 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 12,890,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.19.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce will change its revenue reporting from FY27 to better align with its AI-led "Agentic Enterprise" strategy, which investors view as improving transparency into AI-driven revenue and could re-rate valuation multiples if it highlights faster growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Navatar launched an AI-powered corporate finance advisory operating model built on Salesforce, showing ecosystem demand for Salesforce's AI platform and potential to drive more industry-specific ARR and services. Navatar Brings AI-Powered Corporate Finance Advisory CRM to Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Merck Animal Health selected Salesforce’s Agentforce Life Sciences for customer engagement, a sizable enterprise win that validates cross-industry adoption of Salesforce’s AI CRM offerings. Merck Animal Health Selects Salesforce’s Agentforce Life Sciences
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage from Zacks and other outlets continues to position CRM alongside big-data/AI leaders (e.g., NVDA, PLTR), reinforcing investor perception of Salesforce as a core beneficiary of enterprise AI demand. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Barclays mention, etc.) argues the market may be underestimating Salesforce’s positioning in AI infrastructure/software, supporting a bullish narrative for medium-term revenue upside. Is the Market Missing the Point on Salesforce Inc (CRM)’s AI Positioning?
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-form pieces ask whether Salesforce is prepared for life after founder/CEO Marc Benioff — a governance and succession-topic that could influence investor sentiment over time but does not change near-term fundamentals. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent intraday volatility and a prior session where CRM underperformed the market underscore short-term risk and profit-taking that can offset positive newsflows. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $279.18.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.31. The company has a market cap of $152.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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