Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given “Buy” Rating at Truist Financial

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Truist Financial in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $300.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $280.00. Truist Financial’s price target indicates a potential upside of 45.62% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRM. Wolfe Research cut shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $206.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $177.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13,260.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 188,085,056 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,465,405,000 after acquiring an additional 186,677,290 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $11,396,844,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $1,914,086,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,182,951,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat expectations: Salesforce reported adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, slightly exceeding estimates. Salesforce Q2 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook: Management increased fiscal 2027 guidance to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion in revenue and $16.67-$16.71 in EPS. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $3.42-$3.44 also exceeds the $3.16 consensus, signaling confidence in sustained growth. Salesforce Raises Annual Revenue Forecasts on AI Product Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is accelerating: Agentforce annual recurring revenue reached $1.5 billion, and management said AI usage on the platform increased sixfold. These metrics help counter fears that generative AI could replace traditional enterprise software. Salesforce Q2 2027 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership expands: Salesforce and Anthropic introduced “Claudeforce,” integrating Claude with Salesforce data, workflows and 37 prebuilt sales skills. The collaboration supports Salesforce’s effort to make AI agents a growth engine and reinforces its competitive positioning. Salesforce and Anthropic Announce Claudeforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved: Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $400 target, while Monness Crespi & Hardt raised its target to $266 and Cantor Fitzgerald maintained Overweight with a $250 target. These targets imply substantial upside but do not guarantee future performance.
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Revenue growth remains near 11%, and Salesforce’s stock has been volatile amid concerns about AI-driven software disruption. The large investment gain cited in the quarter may also be less recurring than operating results.

About Salesforce

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.