Salesforce shares heading for best week since 2023
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sales force Shares fell 5% on Friday, continuing a rally that began after the company’s better-than-expected earnings report earlier in the week.
The stock is up 13% in the past five days, marking its best weekly performance since December 2023.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.25, beating Wall Street estimates of $2.86 per share. Revenue rose 8.6% year over year to $10.26 billion, but missed analysts’ estimates of $10.27 billion.
While the AI boom has propelled many tech companies to record increases, cloud software firms have also had a rough year as investors wonder whether AI will make the industry obsolete.
Salesforce hopes to convince Wall Street that AI can support rather than replace its products.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday that investors “somehow think software companies are being held back by AI, but the opposite is true.”
Company acquired startups in the third quarter Regrello And waiiUsing artificial intelligence to generate code with natural language instructions.
Although Salesforce’s shares are down 22% year-to-date compared to the Nasdaq’s 22% gain, analysts are more optimistic about 2026.
“CRM [Salesforce] “At the same time, we believe CRM will remain financially disciplined and can continue to deliver higher operating and FCF margins,” Mizuho analysts wrote.
Analysts highlighted Agentforce, Salesforce’s artificial intelligence platform that creates agents that automate business tasks and streamline workflow.
Despite investors’ initial skepticism about the platform, Cantor analysts were encouraged by the platform’s strong customer service adoption.
“We think CRM is starting to formalize and mature the strategy, which should make it easier for customers to understand and therefore adopt Agentforce,” Cantor analysts wrote.
Agentforce’s annual recurring revenue increased 330% year over year to $540 million.
“The reason everyone is so excited about Agentforce is because this is what AI is supposed to be,” Benioff said. “It brings together people, data, AI and applications and delivers an incredible experience for companies.”
WRISTWATCH: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff meets one-on-one with Jim Cramer
