Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 5% to about $205.92 amid increased trading volume, supported by investor interest in its AI strategy and broader rotation into pressured software stocks.
• Agentforce momentum and expanded AI offerings are key growth catalysts. Agentforce annual recurring revenue reportedly increased 205%, while the Headless 360 expansion and Anthropic partnership could strengthen Salesforce’s enterprise platform and long-term monetization.
• Upcoming earnings could drive volatility. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $249.49 target price, but concerns about AI-driven software disruption and a lack of strong pre-earnings estimate revisions remain risks.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shot up 5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $207.95 and last traded at $205.9190. 16,301,364 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 13,721,013 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.14.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce momentum supports the AI narrative. Salesforce’s Agentforce annual recurring revenue reportedly surged 205% as customer usage increased. Deeper integration of AI agents across Salesforce’s CRM platform could improve growth, customer retention and long-term monetization. Will Agentforce Help Salesforce Stay Ahead in the Enterprise AI Race?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is expanding its Headless 360 offering. The broader portfolio rollout could make Salesforce applications more flexible for developers and enterprise customers, potentially increasing platform adoption and strengthening its position in digital customer experiences. Salesforce Expands Headless 360 Across Its Portfolio
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic provides a potential strategic and financial catalyst. Salesforce has participated in Anthropic’s funding rounds and integrates Claude into its enterprise offerings. A reported $65 billion Anthropic revenue run rate and possible IPO could highlight the value of Salesforce’s investment and AI partnerships, although the benefit remains uncertain until a valuation or liquidity event is established. The Pre-IPO Playbook: How to Cash in on Anthropic Before the Bell
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector rotation is helping sentiment. Investors have rotated from semiconductor stocks into previously pressured software names, while renewed interest in Agentforce and the approaching earnings report has brought CRM back into focus. The move reflects improving momentum, but it is partly market-driven rather than company-specific. Netflix, Salesforce, and Adobe Rally as Investors Rotate Out of Semiconductors and Into Beaten Down Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings are a near-term focus. Salesforce is expected to report earnings Wednesday. Analysts anticipate earnings growth, but one Zacks analysis says the company lacks the typical combination of estimate revisions and momentum that often precedes a beat, raising the risk of volatility around the report. Salesforce Earnings Expected to Grow
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns remain about software disruption. Critics caution that AI could weaken traditional software business models by reducing the value of established applications or intensifying competition. Other commentary argues the selloff has gone too far, but the debate remains an overhang for CRM’s valuation. Salesforce’s and ServiceNow’s Business Models Are in Danger

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Salesforce to a "negative" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Macquarie Infrastructure decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. CLSA initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.49.

Salesforce Stock Up 5.0%

The firm has a market cap of $168.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50-day moving average is $172.00 and its 200-day moving average is $181.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,800,353,000 after acquiring an additional 270,913 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $11,396,844,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $13,286,909,000 after purchasing an additional 659,573 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares in 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source