Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 4.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 4.5% to about $181.42 in midday trading, with volume 18% above the average, amid a broader rebound in enterprise-software stocks tied to renewed AI interest.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including adjusted EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year. A potential $1.6 billion Veterans Affairs agreement also expands adoption of Salesforce’s AI and cloud products.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $249.51 target price, but concerns remain over software-sector weakness, AI spending, and whether new AI products can generate sustained revenue growth.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $184.54 and last traded at $181.4220. 16,313,070 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 13,840,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.60.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce led a broad rebound in enterprise-software stocks as investors renewed interest in AI-related companies. The move also included gains in ServiceNow and Workday, suggesting sector-wide buying rather than a company-specific catalyst alone. Salesforce Surges as Software Rebounds on AI Rotation
• Positive Sentiment: A three-year U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs agreement has a potential value of $1.6 billion and expands use of Salesforce’s Agentforce, Missionforce, Slack, MuleSoft, Tableau, and Data 360. The deal strengthens Salesforce’s government-cloud narrative and provides a large-scale use case for its AI agents and unified data platform. Salesforce’s $1.6 Billion VA AI Deal
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $3.88 versus a $3.13 consensus estimate and revenue of $11.13 billion versus $11.05 billion expected. Revenue grew 13.3% year over year, while fiscal-year guidance implies continued earnings growth. Why Salesforce Led Index Gainers After Its Earnings Move
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts collectively maintain a “Moderate Buy” view, and valuation-focused commentary describes Salesforce as a potential long-term growth opportunity. However, investors remain focused on the upcoming earnings report for evidence that AI investments are translating into sustained bookings and revenue growth. Salesforce Receives Moderate Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce remains well below its 12-month high, reflecting persistent concerns about a software-sector slowdown, elevated AI-related spending, and uncertainty over the pace at which new AI products will generate material revenue. Salesforce’s Impact on AI Deployment

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.51.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.5%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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 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 net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date 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 have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballast Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 54.0% in the second quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 9,737 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,941,000. Tema ETFs LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 19,635 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 426 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 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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