Salesforce stock dropped in premarket trading Thursday after the software company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financials. Shares jumped higher, however, once the market opened for trading.
The cloud pioneer reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.81 a share on revenue of $11.2 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting adjusted earnings of $3.05 a share on revenue of $11.19 billion.
CEO Mark Benioff said in the earnings release that Salesforce now expects to hit $63 billion in revenue in fiscal 2030 due to the rising demand for agentic AI. That’s above the target of $60 billion the company gave at its investor day in October.
Salesforce said it expects fiscal 2027 revenue to be between $45.8 billion and $46.2 billion. While that’s a 10% to 11% increase from the previous year, it’s underwhelming when compared with analyst estimates of $46.1 billion.
Salesforce also said it expects first-quarter adjusted earnings to be between $3.11 a share and $3.13 a share, which is above Wall Street’s consensus call of $3.01 share. Revenue for the first quarter is expected to be between $11.03 billion and $11.08 billion, which is higher than Wall Street expectations of $11.01 billion.
Salesforce stock trading up 3.5% in early action Thursday, after falling 3% in premarket trading, following Wednesday’s results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3%, and Nasdaq Composite futures were off 0.7%.
Salesforce stock has fallen 28% this year and 35% over the past 12 months as investors have worried about AI. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF has tumbled 31% from its record closing high of $117.79 on Sept. 22.
Software firms need to prove they can stand up to AI competition with their own product offerings. For Salesforce, Agentforce could be the way to do that.
Most people have become familiar with AI chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as a way to get instant and personalized answers to questions. AI agents go one step further, using AI models to accomplish a complex series of tasks from a simple prompt without constant human oversight.
Salesforce has tackled the production of AI agents head on through its Agentforce platform, so growth in that part of the business is in focus.
Agentforce annual recurring revenue reached $800 million in the fourth quarter, up 169% year-over-year. Last quarter, the company reported that its Agentforce platform had $540 million in annual recurring revenue, a 330% increase from the prior year.
“We’ve rebuilt Salesforce to become the operating system for the Agentic Enterprise, bringing humans and agents together on one trusted platform,” Benioff said. And the more intelligence moves to where work happens, the more valuable Salesforce becomes.”
It looks like the stock market may be coming around to that idea.
Is CRM a buy hold or sell?
– Buy. Zacks’ proprietary data indicates that Salesforce, Inc. is currently rated as a Zacks Rank 2 and we are expecting an above average return from the CRM shares relative to the market in the next few months.
Why is Salesforce falling?
Salesforce stock has fallen due to a combination of factors, including concerns about a slowdown in the broader software sector, weak guidance for future revenue (especially in Marketing & Commerce/Tableau), high stock-based compensation, and investor anxiety over AI disruption making established software less dominant. While recent earnings beat expectations, the cautious forward-looking forecast and broader tech market sell-off on AI fears have pressured shares, despite a large buyback announcement.
Did CRM beat earnings?
Yes, Salesforce (CRM) beat earnings for its fiscal third quarter of 2026 (reported in December 2025), with actual earnings per share (EPS) of $3.25 surpassing estimates of around $2.85-$2.86, though revenue was mostly in line with expectations. The company saw strong year-over-year growth in both profit and revenue, driven partly by AI adoption, but its Q4 guidance was mixed, leading to varied market reactions, notes www.yahoo.com, www.cnbc.com, and finance.yahoo.com.
Who is bigger, SAP or Salesforce?
It’s not a simple “bigger” answer as SAP and Salesforce lead in different core areas, but Salesforce dominates the CRM market, while SAP is the king of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), handling massive back-end operations, though both compete across various enterprise software suites, with some reports showing SAP growing faster recently. Salesforce is generally seen as the market leader in CRM software, with deep adoption, but SAP’s strength lies in core business processes like finance and supply chain.
Why is Salesforce stock so cheap?
Salesforce’s stock has been down due to worries about slowing enterprise IT spending, increased competition from AI startups, and a recent weak revenue forecast for fiscal 2027, despite strong recent earnings and share buyback plans; investors fear AI’s disruption and slower growth, leading to stock volatility despite signs of potential sector stabilization.
How long will Salesforce survive?
Despite short-term saturation, the long-term outlook remains strong. Salesforce’s ecosystem is still on track to create millions of new jobs this decade. An IDC study projects 9.3 million new Salesforce-related jobs worldwide by 2026, driven by continued cloud adoption and digital transformation
Is Salesforce a good long-term buy?
Salesforce shows potential as a long-term investment due to strong cash flow, growing revenue targets (reaching $63B by FY30), and significant AI investments, leading some analysts to see it as a “long-term winner”. However, market uncertainty, increased scrutiny on its seat-based model, and intense competition in AI create risks, with some analysts maintaining “Moderate Buy” ratings or lower fair value estimates due to these uncertainties.
Does Salesforce have a future?
The future of Salesforce – specifically, the period between 2025 and 2030 – brings businesses even more opportunities and innovations. The platform is transcending its identity as just a CRM and is becoming a deeply intelligent, unified business ecosystem powered by AI, data, and vertical innovations.
Is Salesforce laying off 1,000 people?
Salesforce laid off less than 1,000 employees across its data, marketing and product teams earlier this month, Business Insider reports, citing anonymous sources and employee posts on LinkedIn.Feb 10, 2026
Will Salesforce ever pay a dividend?
Yes, Salesforce (CRM) already pays a dividend and recently increased its quarterly payout to $0.44 per share in early 2026, signaling continued commitment to returning cash to shareholders while investing in growth, including significant stock buybacks and AI initiatives. The company has a history of increasing its dividend, providing stable income to investors.
Is Salesforce a strong buy?
Salesforce (CRM) is generally considered a strong buy or buy by many analysts due to compelling valuation after recent dips, strong cash flow, market leadership in CRM, and strategic positioning in AI with products like Agentforce, despite past moderation in growth, with significant upside potential suggested by price targets and improving fundamentals. While some analysts see it as a solid, potentially undervalued opportunity with high-quality business metrics, others remain cautious, emphasizing execution, but the overall sentiment leans positive, with Zacks giving it a Buy rating and citing strong growth prospects.
