Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Salesforce from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright cut Salesforce to a “negative” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.15.

Salesforce Trading Up 22.6%

Shares of CRM opened at $252.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $206.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $146.32 and a 1 year high of $269.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.03.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 23.35% and a net margin of 21.99%.Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook and earnings beat: Salesforce reported adjusted EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus, while revenue increased 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. Management raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion and provided third-quarter EPS guidance above analyst expectations. Salesforce raises annual revenue forecasts on AI product momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership strengthens AI strategy: Salesforce and Anthropic introduced “Claudeforce,” integrating Claude with Salesforce data, workflows, governance and CRM tools. The companies say the integration will allow sellers and agents to use Salesforce capabilities directly within Claude, potentially improving AI adoption and monetization. Salesforce and Anthropic Announce Claudeforce
• Positive Sentiment: Operating indicators showed momentum: Constant-currency remaining performance obligations accelerated 14%, while Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion. Management also said AI usage on the platform has risen substantially, countering the “SaaSpocalypse” thesis that AI agents will replace incumbent software.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions were broadly constructive but mixed: JPMorgan, Mizuho, BMO, Truist and Monness raised targets or maintained bullish ratings, with targets ranging from $260 to $300 or higher. UBS, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Citi also lifted targets but retained neutral or equal-weight ratings, reflecting valuation and execution concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings quality remains a concern: Strategic investment gains contributed approximately $2.53 of the $5.90 adjusted EPS, including an estimated $2.7 billion unrealized gain tied to Salesforce’s Anthropic investment. Such gains may not recur, and skeptics warn that Anthropic’s control of the AI orchestration layer could limit Salesforce’s long-term strategic upside. Salesforce Stock Just Soared. Thank Anthropic.

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.