Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $218.29 and last traded at $216.8180, with a volume of 468388 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $227.96.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Won a $5.6 billion, 10‑year IDIQ contract from the U.S. Army via its national security unit (Computable Insights). This is a multi‑year, recurring revenue opportunity that expands Salesforce’s addressable market in defense and govtech and supports longer‑term growth and services backlog. Salesforce wins $5.6B US Army contract for national security technology
• Positive Sentiment: Secured additional long‑horizon AI deals in defense and wildfire management, signaling a strategic shift beyond core CRM into mission‑critical AI systems that could lift average contract size and margin mix over time. Salesforce Deepens Defense and Wildfire Roles With Long‑Horizon Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary framing the company as undervalued given its AI expansion and recurring revenue profile — could attract value/AI‑sector buyers if earnings and contract execution prove consistent. Salesforce Expands Into Defense And Wildfire AI With Undervalued Shares
• Neutral Sentiment: High‑profile media/TV coverage (Jim Cramer and sell‑side notes) is keeping CRM on investor radars; this can amplify intraday moves but isn’t a direct fundamental change. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)
• Neutral Sentiment: Granted restricted stock units to employees from recent acquisitions (Apromore, Spindle AI, Informatica) — standard retention/deliverable practice after M&A; modest dilution but supports integration/execution. Salesforce Grants Equity Awards
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and price‑target commentary point to further downside risk: some analysts/technicals show a “chart‑based” sell signal despite the Army deal, which can trigger momentum selling. Salesforce stock chart points to a dive
• Negative Sentiment: Shares remain well below their 52‑week high and have declined sharply year‑over‑year, reflecting valuation compression and investor concern about growth sustainability; that backdrop limits upside until consistent execution and margin improvement are visible. Salesforce Inc. Price Prediction and Forecast

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.51.

Salesforce Trading Down 7.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $197.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $247.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.09.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,927 shares of company stock worth $33,146,979. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.