Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 4% on Strong Earnings

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares traded up 4% on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $201.04 and last traded at $199.38. 26,082,087 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 108% from the average session volume of 12,516,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.75.

The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.28%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 21.25%.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on profitability and AI traction — Non‑GAAP EPS came in at $3.81 (well above consensus) and management highlighted Agentforce/AI monetization as a growth driver, supporting the view that AI is adding commercial value. Revenue In Line With Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital‑return program — Salesforce raised its dividend and authorized a $50B buyback, signaling management confidence and improving EPS leverage if executed. That buyback is a clear near‑term support for the share price. AI Bet & Buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term targets updated — Management lifted multiyear ambitions (targeting roughly $63B revenue by FY2030) and kept FY27 EPS guidance in a tight range; this supports the long‑term bull case but leaves near‑term pacing ambiguous. FY30 Target & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance and metrics disappointed some — cRPO and other cloud momentum measures were only in‑line, and commentary implied a mid‑year slowdown before AI‑driven reacceleration, which hurt investor confidence. Jefferies on Near‑Term Slowdown
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and mixed ratings — Several banks trimmed price targets (examples: Sanford Bernstein, TD Cowen, RBC, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson) or issued neutral/underperform stances, increasing short‑term selling pressure as models were reset. Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over AI impact persists — Coverage highlights that some investors still worry AI could compress SaaS economics despite management’s assurances, creating continued volatility in CRM shares. 3 Reasons Earnings Failed to Impress

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.06.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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.