Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $173.79, but opened at $167.06. Salesforce shares last traded at $171.7820, with a volume of 1,977,113 shares changing hands.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks said Salesforce has a slight edge over Adobe thanks to faster AI growth, stronger earnings revisions, and a lower valuation, which supports the bull case for CRM. Salesforce vs. Adobe: Which Enterprise Software Stock Has the Edge?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is drawing attention as a widely watched stock, and recent commentary framed it as a potential “buy the dip” candidate, suggesting some investors still see value at current levels. Salesforce Stock: Buy the Dip?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also got a boost from business news showing its Missionforce platform being adopted by the U.S. Air Force for global vehicle fleet management, reinforcing the company’s AI and secure-cloud positioning in defense. Salesforce (CRM) Lands Broad Air Force Role Managing A Global Military Vehicle Fleet
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on Salesforce but cut its price target sharply to $185 from $287, signaling a more cautious valuation outlook even though the new target still implies some upside from recent trading levels. Morgan Stanley rating update via Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce remained in the spotlight after Zacks noted the stock has been one of its most-watched names lately, but the note was more about investor interest than a clear catalyst. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh reports that a customer canceled a $600,000-a-year Salesforce contract after building a replacement CRM with AI in two months are a negative reminder that generative AI could threaten parts of Salesforce’s software spending. Curative CEO says company ditched a $600k-a-year Salesforce contract after vibecoding a CRM in 2 months
• Negative Sentiment: Additional fund-sale headlines around CRM and articles questioning how AI disruption affects Salesforce are likely keeping some investors cautious about the stock’s growth durability. Here’s Why This Fund Sold Salesforce (CRM) in Q2

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, June 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.51.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.4%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $170.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.