Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $995.95 EPS

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The CRM provider reported $999.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $995.95, reports. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%. Salesforce updated its FY 2027 guidance to 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance to 3.110-3.130 EPS.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $6.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $192.19. 21,185,411 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,109,206. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $313.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.19. The firm has a market cap of $180.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Synergy Financial Group LTD raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 2,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 1,448 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. ANB Bank boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. ANB Bank now owns 5,755 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Macquarie Infrastructure boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Securities upped their price target on Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $235.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus is on Agentforce converting from hype to measurable revenue — Q4 results tonight are framed as the “defining moment” that will determine whether AI agents drive durable top-line growth. Salesforce Faces Its Defining Moment as Agentforce Moves From Hype to Hard Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Sector uplift after Anthropic announcements lifted software names; Anthropic demos included Salesforce use cases (Slack) that reduce timelines, supporting a relief rally in AI-linked software stocks. US software stocks climb as Anthropic announcement sparks relief rally
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” stance and highlights enterprise agent use cases; supportive analyst views increase odds of positive investor reaction if results show execution on AI. Wedbush says Anthropic demos strong, software-replacement hype overdone
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership news: Navatar launched an AI-powered CRM operating model built on Salesforce for alternative-asset managers — a sign of platform demand and ecosystem monetization. Navatar Launches AI-Powered CRM Operating Model On Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is expanding AI capabilities (Momentum acquisition, Slackbot/Agentforce integrations) — these strategic moves support long-term monetization of agentic AI. Salesforce Inc (CRM) Expands AI Capabilities With Momentum Acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street preview pieces and model updates emphasize a big post-earnings move is likely; analysts have adjusted forecasts ahead of tonight’s print. Salesforce Gears Up For Q4 Print; Recent Forecast Changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst moves: KeyCorp trimmed its price target (still overweight), while other firms keep high targets — implies disagreement on tempo of recovery even if long-term views remain bullish. Benzinga: KeyCorp price target update
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrade(s) knocked the stock lower and pushed shares to a 52-week low, adding downside risk into earnings if guidance disappoints. Salesforce Shares Down Following Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Technical pressure: options/technical commentary notes CRM at a new 52-week low and short-term momentum is weak — earnings will need to be clearly positive to reverse trend. Options Corner: CRM

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.