Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 1.8% Higher - What's Next?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 1.8% to $209.20 in Friday’s trading, amid optimism ahead of the company’s upcoming quarterly results.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Guggenheim and Cantor Fitzgerald citing Salesforce’s potential in AI-powered enterprise workflows; MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $249.87 price target.
• Key risks include increased leverage after Salesforce funded part of its record $27 billion buyback with $25 billion in new debt, while investors remain concerned that slower growth or disappointing AI monetization could weigh on the stock.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $211.07 and last traded at $209.20. 9,600,916 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 13,680,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.43.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Favorable earnings setup: Oppenheimer and other analysts see potential upside from Salesforce’s upcoming results, while market expectations point to a possible post-earnings move toward the stock’s highest level since January. Salesforce Faces Favorable Second-Quarter Setup With Upside Potential How Much Salesforce Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $228 price target, while Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an Overweight rating and set a $250 target. The calls reflect confidence that Salesforce can capture demand for next-generation AI-powered, “agentic” enterprise workflows. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce Analyst Comment
• Positive Sentiment: Growth and capital returns: Zacks characterizes Salesforce as a strong growth stock, while a report highlights a record $27 billion quarterly share repurchase program. Buybacks could support earnings per share and signal that management views the shares as undervalued. Why Salesforce Is a Strong Growth Stock Salesforce Record Stock Buybacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Results are the next catalyst: Analysts are focused on revenue, EPS, and operating metrics for the quarter ended July 2026. Salesforce previously reported $11.13 billion of quarterly revenue, up 13.3% year over year, and EPS of $3.88, above consensus. Salesforce Q2 Earnings Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: AI platform positioning: Coverage comparing Salesforce with ServiceNow suggests investors are rotating toward enterprise application software as AI investment broadens beyond hardware. Salesforce’s Headless 360 strategy and the Agiloft integration on AgentExchange offer additional evidence of ecosystem expansion. Salesforce Versus ServiceNow
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: The buybacks were funded partly with $25 billion of new debt, increasing leverage and interest obligations. Separate commentary questions whether Salesforce could become a value trap if growth slows or AI monetization disappoints. Salesforce Value Trap Analysis

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 12th. CLSA started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price target on Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Salesforce from $187.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.87.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock's fifty day moving average is $173.47 and its 200-day moving average is $181.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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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