Salesforce's Q1 Earnings Beat Expectations Amid $8 Billion Informatica Acquisition and AI Push

What Analysts Think of Salesforce Stock Ahead of Earnings

Salesforce's AI offering Agentforce is seeing "strong momentum," Oppenheimer analysts said. Salesforce (CRM) is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results after the closing bell Wednesday, with analysts largely bullish on the cloud software company's stock. Of the 23 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha, 18 have a "buy" or equivalent rating for the shares, with four "hold" ratings and one "sell." Their consensus price target of about $361 would suggest 30% upside from Tuesday's close. Shares of Salesforce are down about 17% for 2025 so far. The customer relationship management software giant is expected to post first-quarter revenue of $9.75 billion, a roughly 7% jump year-over-year, and adjusted earnings per share of $2.55, up from $2.44 a year ago. Last week, Oppenheimer called Salesforce "one of the healthiest long-term profitable growth stories" among software companies. While macro uncertainty raises risk, Salesforce's AI platform Agentforce is seeing "strong momentum," the analysts said, and maintained a target of $380. Citi analysts have taken more of a wait-and-see approach to Agentforce, lowering their price target to $320 from $335, saying they "await more meaningful data points" around the AI offering's commercialization. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank recently reiterated its more bullish target of $400, and Jefferies maintained its at $375. Salesforce announced Tuesday that it is buying Informatica (INFA), paying about $8 billion for shares it doesn't already own for the AI-based data management software provider. The transaction is expected to close early in Salesforce's fiscal year 2027.

Salesforce Buying Spree Worries Analyst Who Sees Informatica Deal As Cover For Weak Growth - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria maintained Salesforce Inc CRM with an Underperform and a $200 price target on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Salesforce announced it had agreed to acquire Informatica Inc INFA for $8 billion or $25 per share, net of its current investment in the company in cash (11% premium to Informatica's Friday close), Luria said. According to the analyst, this is Salesforce's first headline M&A deal since the company acquired Slack in 2021 for $28 billion. Also Read: Salesforce Sales Cloud, AI Integration, And Cloud Upsells Drive Analyst Confidence In Long-Term Growth Since 2021, Salesforce has completed several strategic bolt-ons to enhance its data and AI offerings. The Informatica deals mark the third consecutive transaction focused on adding incremental data capabilities to the company's growing product portfolio, specifically its Data Cloud offering. While he noted potential benefits from adding Informatica's data management capabilities, he is hesitant to endorse the deal given Informatica's suboptimal execution track record and legacy technology offerings. Luria noted that part of the reasoning for the rerating was that Salesforce would start covering up its slowing organic growth with acquisitions. The first part was evident on Tuesday, and the second part will be evident when Salesforce reports on Wednesday after the close, as per the analyst. While the acquisition may become financially accretive in the second year, he did not believe that buying a legacy technology company that has lost its growth would change the fact that Salesforce is losing its own organic growth. Luria said that just over a year ago, in April 2024, it was rumored that Salesforce was in advanced talks with Informatica to acquire the business for ~$10 billion. While Informatica shareholders welcomed this news, Salesforce investors did not respond favorably, and shares declined 7% after the announcement, the analyst said. He noted that several factors led to this initial reaction, but the wave of criticism from investors and market analysts seemed to center around Salesforce's intentions to integrate Informatica's legacy data capabilities with the company's existing data cloud offering, which it has been building over the past few years. Luria also inhabited this camp, taking a more skeptical view of this deal's long-term strategic rationale from a product and innovation perspective. Going forward, Luria expects Salesforce to continue acquiring software providers who offer additive features, allowing the business to push Agentforce to incremental customers. The analyst is already street low for fiscal 2026 revenue growth at 5.5% versus consensus of 7.5%. Price Actions: CRM shares traded lower by 0.37% at $276.19 at the last check Wednesday. Read Next: Salesforce's Agentforce AI, Data Cloud Strengthen Long-Term Growth Potential: Analyst Photo: Shutterstock CRMSalesforce Inc$276.23-0.35%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum35.88Growth91.14Quality64.69Value8.02Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewINFAInformatica Inc$24.140.94%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Salesforce Q1 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, Raised Guidance, Momentum In Agentic AI, Shares Surge - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce Inc CRM reported first-quarter financial results after the market close on Wednesday. Here's a rundown of the enterprise cloud solutions company's report. Q1 Earnings: Salesforce reported first-quarter revenue of $9.83 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $9.75 billion. The company reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share, beating analyst estimates of $2.55 per share, according to Benzinga Pro. Total revenue was up 8% on a year-over-year basis. Operating margin came in at 19.8%, or 32.3% on an adjusted basis. Cash flow from operations was up 4% year-over-year to $6.5 billion and free cash flow was up 4% year-over-year to $6.3 billion. The company ended the quarter with remaining performance obligations of $29.6 billion, up 12% year-over-year. Salesforce repurchased $2.7 billion worth of its stock in the quarter and returned $402 million to shareholders in the form of dividend payments. The company said it had approximately $10.93 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the quarter's end. "We've built a deeply unified enterprise AI platform -- with agents, data, apps and a metadata platform -- that is unmatched in the industry. With Agentforce, Data Cloud, our Customer 360 apps, Tableau, and Slack all built on one trusted, unified foundation, companies of every size can build a digital labor force -- boosting productivity, reducing costs and accelerating growth," said Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce. Outlook: Salesforce expects second-quarter revenue to be in the range of $10.11 billion to $10.16 billion versus estimates of $10.01 billion. The company anticipates second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.80 to $1.82 per share versus estimates of $1.71 per share. Salesforce also raised its fiscal-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $41 billion to $41.3 billion versus estimates of $40.83 billion. The company raised its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to $7.15 and $7.21 per share versus estimates of $7.24 per share. "I'm pleased by our momentum as we capitalize on the exciting agentic AI opportunity," said Robin Washington, president, COO and CFO of Salesforce. Salesforce noted that it anticipates a currency tailwind due to the weakening of the U.S. dollar. Salesforce executives will further discuss the quarter on a conference call with investors and analysts at 5 p.m. ET. CRM Price Action: Salesforce shares were up 1.55% in after-hours, trading at $280.50 at the time of publication Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Next: Federal Reserve Minutes Flag Tariff-Driven Inflation, Eye US Market Volatility As Economic Risk Tech Analyst Expects Palantir Stock To Rise Above $400 As AI Revolution Kicks Into Gear Photo: courtesy of Salesforce. CRMSalesforce Inc$275.89-0.47%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum35.88Growth91.14Quality64.69Value8.02Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Salesforce Stock Q1 Earnings: AI Ambitions Vs. Stock Realities - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce Inc CRM is back in the spotlight, and not just for its high-profile, $8 billion Informatica acquisition. With first-quarter earnings set to drop after the bell on Wednesday, the real question is whether CEO Marc Benioff's AI-fueled ambitions can finally light a fire under a stock that's been stuck in reverse. Powering Its Agentforce Platform CRM stock has shed over 16% year-to-date and 4.35% in just the past month. Wall Street expects the company to report an EPS of $2.55 on revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, as it reports after the market closes. Following a revenue miss earlier this year, the tech giant has taken a reputational bruise even as it builds what it calls the "AI-first enterprise cloud." The recent buyout of Convergence.ai and now Informatica shows Salesforce isn't just talking a big AI game -- it's doubling down on data to power its Agentforce platform. Read Also: Steve Jobs Once Invited Marc Benioff To His Office With 2 iPads In 2010: The Lesson That Shaped A $270 Billion Salesforce Empire Analysts See 22% Upside, CRM Stock Stuck In A Tug-Of-War Wall Street, meanwhile, is divided but leaning optimistic. Analysts at WestPark Capital, Needham, and UBS reiterated Buy-equivalent ratings, with an average target of $340 - implying a 22% upside. The Street consensus is even more bullish, hovering near $371. Chart created using Benzinga Pro Technically, CRM stock is stuck in a tug-of-war. The eight-day and 20-day simple moving averages (SMAs) sit above the current share price of $277.19, flashing short-term bearish signals. But the 50-day SMA tells a more bullish story, suggesting some medium-term recovery potential for CRM stock. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) sits at 3.01, indicating growing upward momentum, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 49.84 suggests CRM stock isn't oversold -- yet. With over $14 billion in cash, Salesforce has the firepower to keep its AI dreams alive. But investors burned by past M&A sprees are watching closely. Can the company turn these shiny new toys into real revenue, or is this another case of clouded judgment? Salesforce will need to deliver not just on earnings, but on the narrative. Read Next: Salesforce Likely To Report Higher Q1 Earnings; These Most Accurate Analysts Revise Forecasts Ahead Of Earnings Call CRMSalesforce Inc $274.41-1.00% Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock Rankings Edge Rankings Momentum 35.88 Growth 91.14 Quality 64.69 Value 8.02 Price Trend Short Medium Long Overview Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

CRM-Powered ETFs In Focus As Salesforce Bets Big On AI With $8B Informatica Deal Ahead Of Q1 Results CRM-Powered ETFs In Focus As Salesforce Bets Big On AI With $8B Informatica Deal Ahead Of Q1 Results - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce CRM is in the news with its $8 billion buyout of data management company Informatica INFA, an ambitious foray into the AI and data integration business. But the tech behemoth isn't only in the spotlight for the deal -investors are also eagerly awaiting its fiscal Q1 2026 earnings release, due after the market close Wednesday. Between a fresh M&A appetite and expanding AI roots, CRM-focused funds could be on the cusp of a data-driven rally. ETFs In The Spotlight The Informatica acquisition and the expected earnings release have implications for a number of ETFs that have big stakes in Salesforce: iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV: 7.4% weightage First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund FDN: 5.4% weightage FT Vest Dow Jones Internet & Target Income ETF FDND: 5.4% weightage These ETFs would stand to benefit if Salesforce's quarterly earnings beat or meet forecasts and if the market perceives the Informatica acquisition as a strategic play in the growing AI space. Can Salesforce Deliver? Analysts are calling for Salesforce to post adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.55 on revenue of $9.75 billion, improving year over year from $2.44 EPS and $9.13 billion in revenue. Such a performance would demonstrate the company's ongoing growth trend, but at a more tempered rate than what it experienced during its previous years of explosive expansion. The earnings announcement is especially important since it will give us clues on how Salesforce's recent strategic actions, such as acquiring Informatica, will affect its financial well-being and competitive standing in the AI-powered enterprise software industry. Bottom Line The dual emphasis by Salesforce on strategic acquisitions as well as strong earnings performance make it an important contributor to the AI and enterprise software industries. Both investors and ETF observers will be listening to the Q1 earnings announcement for signals about the direction of the company and the wider ramifications for tech-themed investment vehicles. Read Next: Abercrombie Is Hot Again -- Here's Why Your Retail ETF Didn't Get The Memo Photo: Shutterstock CRMSalesforce Inc$274.93-0.82%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum35.88Growth91.14Quality64.69Value8.02Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewFDNFirst Trust DJ Internet Index Fund$251.61-0.05%FDNDFirst Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV FT Vest Dow Jones Internet & Target Income ETF$22.350.31%IGViShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF$103.41-0.38%INFAInformatica Inc$24.130.86%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Salesforce Posts Q1 Beat, But Are Margins A Concern? - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Shares of Salesforce Inc CRM tanked in early trading on Thursday, despite the company Wednesday reporting strong first-quarter results. Here are some key analyst takeaways. Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan reaffirmed a Buy rating, while lifting the price target from $340 to $385. Needham analyst Scott Berg maintained a Buy rating and price target of $400. JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy reiterated an Overweight rating and price target of $380. Bank of America Securities analyst Brad Sills reaffirmed a Buy rating and price target of $350. Check out other analyst stock ratings. Goldman Sachs: Salesforce's reported solid quarterly results and raised its full-year revenue guidance, Rangan said in a note. Shares came under pressure due to margin concerns, he added. Salesforce's margins have typically expanded amid tough demand environments and contracted back as the macro improves, the analyst stated. While the company's margins have expanded, this trend may continue instead of reversing, given "management's strong emphasis on profitable growth at scale today," even when the macro recovery begins, he further wrote. Needham: Salesforce reported revenues and earnings of $9.83 billion and $2.58 per share, Berg said. Total revenues grew 7.6% year-on-year, driven by 8.3% subscription revenue, with "strength in Data / AI oriented clouds and products along with pricing and packaging in sales and service," he added. Data Cloud and AI annual recurring revenue crossed $1 billion, up more than 120%, the analyst stated. "cRPO (current remaining performance obligation), our favorite sales metric, grew 12.1% Y/Y (11% in CC) versus 10% guidance," he further wrote. JPMorgan: Salesforce's cRPO grew 11% to $29.6 billion, flat versus the previous quarter, Murphy said. However, the second-quarter cRPO growth guidance came in around 30bps below Street expectations, he added. The company delivered an "uncharacteristic" miss on operating margins, the analyst stated. Total revenue of $9.83 billion, up 8% in constant currency terms, surpassed consensus, "driven by 9% growth in Subscription & Support revenue," he further wrote. BofA Securities: Salesforce's first-quarter results suggest "a stable demand environment, with continued strength in the Agentforce new product cycle," Sills wrote in a note. Management reiterated their outlook for subscription growth of 9% in constant currency terms for fiscal 2026, which was "a welcome relief," given that channel checks suggested a guide down, the analyst stated. The timing of growth acceleration remains unclear, he added. Price Action: Shares of Salesforcehad declined by 5.85% to $259.89 at the time of publication on Thursday. Read More: Salesforce Declares 'Multitrillion Dollar Opportunity' With Digital Labor Revolution: Jim Cramer Says CRM Is Doing 'Exciting Things' Image: Shutterstock CRMSalesforce Inc$259.45-6.01%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum37.44Growth91.13Quality66.21Value8.08Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Salesforce Stock Sinks Despite Strong AI Momentum -- Is Now the Time to Buy the Dip? | The Motley Fool

Salesforce (CRM -1.58%) turned in solid fiscal 2026 first-quarter results and raised its full-year revenue forecast as customers begin to embrace its artificial intelligence (AI) agents. However, the stock has struggled to gain traction in 2025 with shares down more than 20% year to date, as of this writing. With the software-as-as-service (SaaS) company also recently announcing the $8 billion acquisition of Informatica (INFA 0.25%), let's take a closer look at its results to see if the stock can start to gain some momentum. Salesforce continues to see early success with AI agents, and the company now has more than 4,000 paid customers for its Agentforce platform. Agentforce has already reached annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $100 million, the fastest product in the company's history to accomplish this milestone. In addition, 30% of Agentforce's bookings came from customers increasing their consumption, even though the product has only been available for two quarters. Including pilots, it now has more than 8,000 Agentforce deals in place. At the same time, management said its Data Cloud offering, which helps customers unify their data into a single source, has also taken off with Data Cloud ARR increasing 120% year over year to more than $1 billion. The product recently surpassed 22 trillion records, up 175% year over year. Nearly 60% of its top 100 deals included both Data Cloud and AI, and half of Data Cloud's Q1 new bookings came from existing customers. Agentforce and Data Cloud are part of Salesforce's four-pillar ADAM framework: agents, data, apps, and metadata. The company says that to truly deliver digital labor, these parts must all work together. That's why Salesforce apps like Tableau and Slack are deeply integrated with agentic layers while running on its metadata platform. With this, the company plans to help lead the digital labor revolution. To help drive adoption, the company has also introduced FlexCredits, a new Agentforce consumption-based pricing model to improve customer satisfaction and enhance flexibility. For the quarter ended April 30, Salesforce's revenue increased 8% year over year to $9.83 billion, surpassing its guidance range of $9.71 billion to $9.76 billion. Subscription and support revenue also increased 8% to $9.30 billion. Among its core products, Mulesoft revenue rose 8%, while Slack revenue jumped 11%. Tableau's growth saw strong quarter-on-quarter acceleration from 3% to 12%. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose 6% to $2.58. The company also generated $6.30 billion in free cash flow during the quarter. Salesforce's current remaining performance obligations (cRPOs) increased 12% year over year to $29.6 billion. cRPOs are the portion of a company's contracted revenue that's expected to be recognized within the next year. The metric is commonly used by SaaS companies to provide visibility into future revenue. The company boosted its full-year outlook as you can see below: Data source: Salesforce. It's been a theme recently to see enterprise software companies take a cautious stance with guidance given the uncertainty around tariffs and the impact they may have on the economy. However, Salesforce increased its full-year forecast, and it still wasn't enough to lift its struggling stock That said, the company is seeing early momentum with agentic AI, and its vision to create a unified platform around its ADAM framework looks like a solid plan. Meanwhile, its acquisition of data integration company Informatica should bolster its Data Cloud offering and boost AI agent performance. Plus, with FlexCredits, the company is better able to align the cost of its product with the utility customers get from it, which should help drive adoption. Salesforce looks attractively priced by any metric. It has a forward price-to-sales multiple of 6 based on analysts' estimates for fiscal 2026, while its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 23, and its price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio is 0.3. A PEG ratio below 1 is typically reflective of an undervalued stock. When you combine Salesforce's valuation metrics with its AI market opportunity, you get a compelling case to buy this stock on the dip.

Salesforce stock holds Outperform rating post Informatica deal By Investing.com

On Tuesday, Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) maintained its Outperform rating according to William Blair analysts, following the announcement of a definitive agreement to acquire Informatica, a data management software provider. The deal, announced before the market opened on May 27, values Informatica at $8 billion in equity value, net of Salesforce's current investment in the company. Informatica, which boasts impressive gross profit margins of 80.5% and maintains a "GOOD" financial health rating according to InvestingPro, has demonstrated strong operational efficiency. Salesforce revealed that Informatica shareholders are set to receive $25 per share, a 33% premium over the stock's price prior to acquisition rumors that emerged late last week. The acquisition will be an all-cash transaction, funded through a mix of Salesforce's existing cash reserves, which stood at $14 billion at the end of the last quarter, and new debt, with Salesforce currently holding $8.4 billion in debt. Notably, Informatica operates with a moderate level of debt and maintains strong liquidity, with current assets exceeding short-term obligations by nearly 2x. Want deeper insights? InvestingPro offers comprehensive financial analysis and valuation metrics for over 1,400 US stocks. The agreed price per share suggests an estimated enterprise value for Informatica of $9.8 billion. This valuation implies a deal multiple of 5.7 times next twelve months (NTM) revenue and 17 times NTM EBITDA, according to the analysis provided. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in early fiscal 2027. Informatica's shareholders, who collectively hold 63% of the company's voting power, have already expressed their approval of the transaction through a written consent. This swift move towards consent indicates a strong shareholder agreement with the terms of the acquisition. The transaction between Salesforce and Informatica marks a significant expansion for Salesforce in the data management domain, as the company continues to broaden its software offerings. According to InvestingPro, Informatica has achieved a perfect Piotroski Score of 9, indicating strong financial performance across multiple metrics. This is just one of many valuable insights available in InvestingPro's detailed research reports, which transform complex financial data into actionable intelligence. In other recent news, Salesforce has announced its acquisition of Informatica for approximately $8 billion, with the transaction set to close at the beginning of Salesforce's fiscal year 2027. Informatica shareholders will receive around $25 per share, and the acquisition has already been approved by shareholders holding 63% of Informatica's voting power. Guggenheim has maintained a Buy rating on Informatica with a $27 price target, while RBC Capital Markets raised its price target for Informatica to $22, citing its appeal in the data management sector. Meanwhile, Raymond (NSE:RYMD) James reaffirmed a Strong Buy rating for Salesforce, highlighting the strategic and financial benefits of the acquisition, including enhanced data management capabilities and potential synergies. Wedbush Securities also maintained an Outperform rating for Salesforce, emphasizing the strategic move to bolster AI capabilities through this acquisition. Despite these positive projections, Guggenheim has noted potential challenges for Salesforce in integrating Informatica into its operations, given past difficulties with mergers. Informatica, on its part, has introduced a new AI-driven data management strategy, including the launch of AI Agent Engineering and CLAIRE Agents, aimed at enhancing its platform capabilities. The company has also expanded partnerships with major tech firms such as AWS, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to further develop its AI and data management solutions.

Agentic AI: Can Salesforce's AI Pivot Lead to Real Growth? | Investing.com UK

By shifting to on-cloud software from complicated on-premise installations, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) became the primary choice for customer relationship management (CRM). Companies' sales departments embraced the simplicity of the Salesforce software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, as it scaled with their needs across organizational instances. As a result, since the end of 2019, Salesforce market cap increased by 83% to $264.37 billion. At its all-time peak, CRM stock soared to $369 per share in early December 2024. Year-to-date, however, CRM shares dropped by nearly 17%, currently priced at $273.13 per share. On Thursday, May 28th, the company is scheduled to report its Q1 earnings for fiscal 2026, ending April 2025. Salesforce has to beat consensus earnings per share (EPS) of $1.87, which is close to the $1.9 EPS reported in the year-ago quarter. And just as Salesforce successfully leveraged its SaaS business model, expectations have shifted to the company's AI-powered tools. With an already heavy market cap weight, will AI be sufficient for CRM to return to its ATH or even exceed it? Way before the AI hype as we know it, Salesforce launched its Einstein AI platform in September 2016. Similar to Palantir's Gotham, Einstein breaks down data flows into actionable objects and workflows. This includes natural language processing, predictive analytics, automation of repetitive tasks, and prioritization of customer inputs. Sales teams then have access to a wider picture of patterns, trends and correlations in both real-time and historical data. Combined with content generation for chatbots and personalized emails, it is easy to see how Salesforce could automate away the need for large sales teams even in fairly large companies. Although Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) aims to do the same for both governments and corporations, Salesforce has a head start and specializes in CRM. In FY25, the company reported $900 million revenue in Data Cloud & AI, a yearly growth of 120%. In April, Salesforce stock even earned a downgrade for its AI focus. Having improved its AI agents (Agentforce), Salesforce also reported 84% resolution rate from chatbots across 380,000 conversations. Of those, only 2% required additional human assistance. To improve the company's capabilities in the ongoing AI race, Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Informatica this Tuesday worth $8 billion. Informatica (NYSE:INFA) is a precursor for large AI systems. Specifically, the company is in the business of extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) data. In contrast to a company like Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) which handles monitoring and analytics, Informatica is all about data integration and secure governance of that data. This acquisition firmly sets the company on an automation course in a more robust way. Specifically, the T in Informatica's ETL is all about making data standardized and trusted. And if the data is trusted it is more actionable for AI agents. "Truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data. The combination of Informatica's advanced catalog and metadata capabilities with our Agentforce platform delivers exactly this." Having all the data pieces for the AI puzzle under one roof, Salesforce is likely to increase its CRM market share. The company still ranks number one at estimated 24% market share, per 6sense data, with competitors like HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS) (5.8%) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Dynamics (4.6%) far behind. Likewise, just as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has advantage in making full self-driving (FSD) more robust by accessing the data from millions of sold cars, Salesforce gains that network effect for its AI agents. This type of advantage is exceedingly difficult for competitors to overcome. Against the average price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio in the SaaS sector of 29.4, Salesforce has a P/E of 43. With the acquisition of Informatica, this is likely justified. For the fiscal year ending January, the company delivered $6.2 billion net income, 50% more than the year prior. Although Salesforce began firing over 1,000 employees in February, the commitment to AI is clear as the company opened up positions for 2,000 people for AI-related sales. For FY26 guidance, Salesforces expects $40.5 - $40.9 billion revenue, which is a yearly growth of 7% - 8%. Ahead of tomorrow's earnings report, WSJ's forecasting data points to the average CRM price target of $364.47 per share. The bottom outlook is $200 while the ceiling for CRM stock is $440 per share. The overwhelming majority of analysts, 40, recommend buying, while only one views the current CRM price as good enough to sell. *** Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policy prior to making financial decisions.

RBC lifts Informatica stock price target to $22, maintains rating By Investing.com

On Tuesday, RBC Capital Markets adjusted its outlook on Informatica shares (NYSE: INFA), raising the price target to $22 from the previous $19, while keeping a Sector Perform rating on the stock. The adjustment comes amid market speculation about a potential acquisition of Informatica by Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), as reported by a Bloomberg article late on Friday. Following the release of this information, Informatica's stock price experienced a significant uptick, closing 17% higher. The company, currently valued at $6.8 billion, has demonstrated impressive financial health with a perfect Piotroski Score of 9, according to InvestingPro data. Matthew Hedberg of RBC Capital commented on the situation, noting the lack of confirmation regarding the acquisition talks. However, he highlighted Informatica's appeal as an investment, citing "the ongoing growth in data, the ongoing cloud mix-shift and potential GenAI tailwinds." This appeal is supported by the company's impressive 80.54% gross profit margins and strong financial health score, as revealed by InvestingPro analysis. Despite the rumors, RBC has chosen to maintain its Sector Perform rating but believes that the raised price target reflects Informatica's value more accurately, aligning it closer to the company's three-year average stock price. The market's response to the Bloomberg article suggests investors are receptive to the idea of a deal between Informatica and Salesforce. Informatica's stock surge on the day of the article's publication indicates a positive investor sentiment towards the potential acquisition, with the stock showing a remarkable 17.2% return over the past week. While RBC has no specific knowledge of the transaction's likelihood, the firm's revised price target takes into account Informatica's fundamental strengths and its position within the technology sector. Technical indicators from InvestingPro suggest the stock is currently in overbought territory, with 14 additional ProTips available for subscribers. Informatica has not issued any statements confirming the acquisition talks, and Salesforce has also not publicly commented on the matter. The situation remains speculative, and it is unclear whether an official announcement will come to fruition next week as suggested by the Bloomberg report. Investors and market observers will be closely watching for any developments regarding the speculated acquisition. If confirmed, such a deal could have significant implications for both Informatica and Salesforce, as well as the broader tech industry. For now, RBC's revised price target offers an updated financial perspective on Informatica based on current market conditions and the company's intrinsic value. In other recent news, Informatica has introduced a new strategy for AI-driven data management, unveiling AI Agent Engineering and CLAIRE Agents, set for global availability in the fall of 2025. These initiatives aim to enhance autonomous data management capabilities, with CLAIRE Copilot for data integration now generally available. Informatica also announced significant enhancements to its collaboration with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), including the Data Quality Native Application for Microsoft Fabric, which is now in public preview, and the general availability of Master Data Management Extensions for Microsoft Fabric. Additionally, the company has expanded its partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), launching new AI agent recipes and a connector for Amazon SageMaker Lakehouse, along with improved ELT capabilities for Amazon Redshift. Informatica has achieved the Amazon Generative AI Competency, underscoring its expertise in generative AI technologies. Furthermore, Informatica has solidified its partnership with Microsoft, aiming to integrate AI-powered solutions with Microsoft services like Azure and Microsoft Fabric. Meanwhile, DA Davidson has maintained a Neutral rating on Informatica stock with a price target of $18, noting an increase in top-line growth driven by subscription revenues and resilience in customer behavior despite global economic concerns.

Evercore ISI maintains salesforce.com stock at $350 target By Investing.com

On Tuesday, Evercore ISI reiterated its positive stance on salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) shares, maintaining an Outperform rating with a $350.00 price target. The firm's analyst highlighted the potential benefits of the company's recent acquisition of Informatica, emphasizing that it will enhance Salesforce's data management capabilities and align well with its broader Agentforce strategy. According to InvestingPro data, Salesforce currently trades at a P/E ratio of 42.75 with a market capitalization of $264.76 billion, and analysis suggests the stock is slightly undervalued based on its Fair Value assessment. According to the analyst, conversations within the industry support the strategic rationale behind the acquisition. The report suggests that while Salesforce anticipates the transaction to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings in the second year after completion, Evercore ISI's own calculations suggest this could be a conservative estimate. InvestingPro data shows Salesforce maintains impressive gross profit margins of 77.19% and has achieved revenue growth of 8.72% over the last twelve months, indicating strong operational efficiency. Despite expectations that Salesforce stock might stay within a near-term trading range as investors look for more proof of organic growth reacceleration in the second half of the year, Evercore ISI believes that the current share price already factors in significant skepticism regarding the Agentforce strategy. The firm's analysis indicates that the risk/reward balance for Salesforce shares is substantially positive, especially given the stock's valuation at approximately 18 times enterprise value to calendar year 2026 free cash flow. The Evercore ISI report comes as Salesforce continues to navigate its growth strategy amidst a dynamic market environment. The acquisition of Informatica is seen as a strategic move to bolster the company's offerings in data management, which is becoming increasingly important for businesses seeking to leverage data for competitive advantage. Salesforce's focus on organic growth and strategic acquisitions has been a key part of its approach to maintaining its position as a leader in the customer relationship management (CRM) space. With this latest acquisition, Salesforce aims to further solidify its offerings and provide enhanced services to its customers. Investors and market watchers will likely continue to monitor Salesforce's performance closely, looking for signs of growth acceleration and successful integration of Informatica into its suite of services. As the company works to prove the value of its Agentforce strategy, the coming months will be critical in shaping perceptions and investor confidence in Salesforce's future trajectory. For deeper insights into Salesforce's financial health and growth prospects, InvestingPro offers a comprehensive Pro Research Report, featuring detailed analysis of the company's performance metrics, valuation, and growth potential among 1,400+ top US stocks. In other recent news, Salesforce has been at the center of several developments that could interest investors. BMO Capital Markets adjusted its price target for Salesforce shares to $350, down from $367, while maintaining an Outperform rating. The firm anticipates Salesforce's upcoming earnings report to align closely with projections. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) continues to endorse Salesforce with a Buy rating and a price target of $340, projecting a 7% increase in revenue and a 10% rise in current remaining performance obligations. Stifel also maintained its Buy rating, setting a price target at $375, expressing confidence in Salesforce's strategy and product offerings, particularly its Agentforce platform. Additionally, Salesforce has entered into a partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration to provide significant discounts on Slack for federal agencies, aiming to enhance government productivity. This agreement offers a temporary 90% price reduction on Slack Enterprise Grid and nearly 70% off Slack AI for Enterprise. Lastly, JMP Securities reaffirmed its Market Outperform rating for Salesforce with a $430 price target, highlighting the company's new flexible pricing model for its Agentforce product as a strategic move to meet market demands. These recent developments reflect Salesforce's ongoing efforts to expand its market reach and adapt its offerings to meet customer needs.