Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 3.7% on Strong Earnings

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price shot up 3.7% during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $192.60 and last traded at $192.1910. 20,147,353 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 67% from the average session volume of 12,056,347 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.42.

The CRM provider reported $999.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $995.95. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.56.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $227.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.19.

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.