Salesforce's AI Bet Faces Scrutiny Amid Weak Forecast and Market Reaction
12 Sources
[1]
Salesforce falls after weak annual forecast puts spotlight on AI monetization
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Shares of Salesforce (CRM.N), opens new tab fell over 3% before the bell on Thursday after a downbeat annual revenue and profit forecast raised questions about when the enterprise cloud firm would start to show meaningful returns on its hefty artificial intelligence
[2]
Salesforce falls after weak annual forecast puts spotlight on AI monetization
(Reuters) - Shares of Salesforce fell over 3% before the bell on Thursday after a downbeat annual revenue and profit forecast raised questions about when the enterprise cloud firm would start to show meaningful returns on its hefty artificial intelligence bets. Salesforce's top boss, Marc Benioff,
[3]
Salesforce forecasts annual revenue below estimates
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Business software provider Salesforce (CRM.N), opens new tab forecast fiscal 2026 revenue below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, weighed down by slower adoption of its artificial intelligence agent platform, sending shares of the company down around 7% in extended
[4]
Salesforce Q4 2025 Earnings: CEO Benioff Dismisses Threat To SaaS From Agentic AI
"Beware the false agents," Salesforce CEO and co-founder Marc Benioff said. Salesforce CEO and co-founder Marc Benioff called concerns that agentic artificial intelligence could mark the end of software-as-a-service applications a "Microsoft narrative" and put down the tech giant's Copilot AI
[5]
Salesforce delivers strong AI growth but disappoints on fiscal 2026 forecast - SiliconANGLE
Salesforce delivers strong AI growth but disappoints on fiscal 2026 forecast Shares in Salesforce Inc. were down over 2% in late trading today after the cloud-based software company fell short of expectations on revenue in its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter and both its first quarter and full-year
[6]
CRM: AI Questions Not Yet Fully Answered | The Motley Fool
Salesforce posted nearly 8% revenue growth and 21% growth in earnings per share in the last three months of its fiscal 2025, but the revenue number fell a bit short of expectations. The company, a maker of a range of customer management and related corporate software tools, said it was the
[7]
Salesforce Forecasts Annual Revenue Below Estimates
(Reuters) - Business software provider Salesforce forecast fiscal 2026 revenue below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, weighed down by slower adoption of its artificial intelligence agent platform, sending shares of the company down around 7% in extended trading. The company expects revenue
[8]
Salesforce Gives Tepid Growth Outlook, Dashing AI Agent Hopes
Salesforce Inc. gave a fiscal-year revenue forecast that fell short of estimates, dimming optimism for the company's new artificial intelligence product. Revenue will be $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion in the year ending January 2026, the San Francisco-based company said Wednesday in a statement.
[9]
Salesforce Q4 2025 Earnings Preview: Five Things To Know
Growth in artificial intelligence offers. A combination COO and CFO. And more insight into the post-DeepSeek AI market. These are some of the subjects expected to come up Wednesday when Salesforce reports results for its fourth fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31. Partners have been reporting positive
[10]
Salesforce CEO Benioff warns against agentic false prophets as a new Holy Trinity of CRM + Data + AI takes shape
There's a new Holy Trinity of CRM + Data + AI at play as Salesforce turns in its first ever (near) $10 billion quarter. The firm's full year revenue for fiscal '25 came in at $37.9 billion, up nine percent year-on-year, with a profit of $6.2 billion. Q4 revenue was $9.99 billion, which was
[11]
Salesforce Q4 EPS Beats, Revenue Lags | The Motley Fool
Salesforce (CRM 0.47%), a leading cloud-based software company known for its customer relationship management solutions, reported mixed fiscal year 2025 fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Adjusted EPS of $2.78 exceeded analysts' consensus expectations of $2.61. Q4 revenue of $9.99
[12]
Salesforce Q4 Earnings Preview: Can Cloud, AI Growth Power Company To Record Results? - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)
Cloud software company Salesforce Inc CRM could highlight its growth in AI and recent partnerships when the company reports fourth-quarter financial results after market close Wednesday. Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Salesforce to report fourth-quarter revenue of $10.04 billion. That's up
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Salesforce's shares fall as weak annual forecast raises questions about AI monetization, particularly for its Agentforce platform. The company's transition to AI-driven solutions faces challenges in showing immediate returns.
Salesforce's AI Strategy Under Scrutiny
Salesforce, the enterprise cloud giant, is facing investor skepticism following its weak annual revenue forecast, which has put a spotlight on the company's artificial intelligence (AI) monetization efforts. Shares of Salesforce fell over 3% in pre-market trading after the company's fourth-quarter earnings report and fiscal 2026 outlook fell short of analyst expectations
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.Transition to AI-Driven Solutions
Under CEO Marc Benioff's leadership, Salesforce has been making significant efforts to transition beyond traditional cloud computing towards data-driven machine learning and generative AI. This strategic shift aims to capitalize on the rapidly evolving tech landscape
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. The company's flagship AI offering, Agentforce - an AI agent builder platform - has been at the center of this transformation.Challenges in AI Monetization
Despite the company's ambitious AI plans, the weak annual revenue outlook has raised doubts about the pace of monetization for Agentforce. The adoption cycle for the platform is still in its early stages, with outgoing CFO Amy Weaver projecting "meaningful contribution in fiscal 2027"
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. This timeline suggests that Salesforce may experience slower growth in the near term as it waits for its AI investments to bear fruit.Market Reaction and Analyst Perspectives
The market's reaction to Salesforce's forecast has been notably negative. If the current losses hold, the company could potentially wipe off over $9 billion from its market value
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. Analysts have expressed concerns about the focus on Agentforce coming at the expense of other business segments. Gil Luria, managing director at D.A. Davidson, noted, "Unfortunately for Salesforce, the focus (on Agentforce) is coming at the expense of the rest of the business which continues to decelerate"1
.Bright Spots and Future Potential
Despite the challenges, there are some positive indicators for Salesforce's AI strategy. The company's Data Cloud, which is closely tied to its AI initiatives, has shown strong growth. Data Cloud and AI annual recurring revenue rose 120% last year, which analysts believe could lay a foundation for future growth acceleration
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. Additionally, Salesforce reported signing 5,000 Agentforce deals since October, including over 3,000 paid agreements5
.Related Stories
Competitive Landscape and Industry Trends
Salesforce's AI monetization challenges are not unique in the tech industry. Investors have been pressuring major tech firms, including Microsoft and Meta, to demonstrate returns on their substantial AI investments
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. This scrutiny reflects the broader industry trend of balancing innovation with profitability in the rapidly evolving AI sector.Salesforce's Response and Future Outlook
In response to the market reaction, Salesforce executives have emphasized the company's long-term vision for AI integration. Benioff has dismissed concerns that agentic AI could threaten the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, calling it a "Microsoft narrative"
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. The company is also exploring new pricing models for its AI offerings, including a potential shift to a universal credit pricing model4
.As Salesforce navigates this critical phase of its AI strategy, the company faces the challenge of maintaining investor confidence while continuing to invest in long-term technological advancements. The coming years will be crucial in determining whether Salesforce's bet on AI-driven solutions will pay off and solidify its position as a leader in the enterprise cloud and AI market.
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