Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price fell 1.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $204.76 and last traded at $205.7370. Approximately 10,014,362 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 13,643,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.06.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is the key bullish catalyst. Analysts expect rising use of Salesforce’s Agentforce AI agents and a broader AI ecosystem to support subscription growth in fiscal Q2 2027. The earnings preview calls for approximately 10.6% revenue growth, aided by AI-cloud demand, acquisitions and disciplined spending. CRM’s Q2 Earnings Coming Up: Rising Agentforce Adoption to Aid Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive. Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $225 target, BTIG maintained Buy with a $255 target, and Citizens JMP reiterated Market Outperform with a $315 target. These targets imply meaningful upside from recent trading levels. Salesforce analyst rating updates
• Positive Sentiment: Share repurchases may support valuation. Commentary highlights Salesforce’s reported $27.5 billion buyback, which reduced the share count and could bolster per-share earnings while providing valuation support. Salesforce Forcing Itself Higher Through Massive Buybacks And AI-Led Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are a major near-term test. Investors want evidence that AI agents are translating into accelerating sales rather than merely increasing customer interest. Salesforce’s previous quarter beat expectations, with $11.13 billion in revenue and $3.88 in adjusted earnings per share, raising the bar for the upcoming report. Salesforce faces an earnings test as AI agents reshape its business
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and market risks could limit gains. The stock is testing resistance near $210, while concerns about slower underlying growth and a possible rotation away from technology stocks could make investors less tolerant of an earnings or guidance miss. Salesforce stock hits a crucial resistance ahead of earnings

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Phillip Securities downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.72.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $168.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.23 and its 200-day moving average is $181.44.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 199 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 8,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,187,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.