Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 3% – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded up 3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $228.72 and last traded at $228.19. 9,456,300 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 9,131,780 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.58.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts note Salesforce’s push into agentic AI (Agentforce) and continued monetization of Data Cloud as potential drivers to reignite revenue growth and margins, which investors view as a credible growth pathway. Salesforce Bets on Agentic AI: Will It Reignite CRM’s Revenue Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlights Salesforce’s recent market outperformance and investor attention after its latest session close, reinforcing momentum among buyers. Salesforce.com (CRM) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish takes (Seeking Alpha, Forbes) argue the selloff is overdone and that CRM is trading in a historical support range, framing the stock as a potential buying opportunity for contrarian investors. Salesforce: The Selloff Is Overdone, A Contrarian Buy Opportunity (Rating Upgrade)
• Neutral Sentiment: High-profile coverage (Jim Cramer) is calling attention to Salesforce’s seat-based model and platform strategy; increased media focus can boost flows but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Seat Model
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings previews are mixed: Salesforce posted $3.25 EPS vs. $2.86 consensus and ~9% YoY revenue growth, with Q4 FY2026 EPS guidance of $3.02–$3.04—numbers that support valuation but leave some growth questions. Salesforce earnings preview: What to expect
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure from vertical SaaS peers (notably Veeva in life sciences) and questions about services execution are being raised as risks to Salesforce’s growth and win rates in certain industries. Veeva vs Salesforce – the services questions that Life Sciences organizations need to be asking – and time is running
• Negative Sentiment: Analyses and headlines flag investor concerns—slowing growth relative to lofty AI expectations and valuation risks—which have contributed to recent volatility and caution among some funds. What Is Spooking CRM Stock Investors?
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets include Salesforce on “stocks to avoid” lists amid the AI hype, highlighting execution and competitive risks that could pressure sentiment if growth disappoints. Top 5 Stocks to Avoid Despite the AI Hype

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.47, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $248.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.45.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.Salesforce’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 147,677 shares of company stock valued at $34,865,371 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 27,361.5% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,700 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $484,852,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,729.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.