Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Announces Earnings Results

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce updated its FY 2027 guidance to 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance to 3.110-3.130 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Salesforce’s conference call:

• Salesforce reported a strong FY26 with $41.5 billion revenue (+10% YoY), Q4 revenue of $11.2 billion (+12% YoY), CRPO $35.1 billion (+16%) and Total RPO $72 billion (+14%), which management called one of the best years in software.
• Management highlighted rapid scaling of its AI offerings — Agentforce ARR ~ $800M and Data 360 (incl. Informatica) ARR > $2.9B (200% YoY), with 29,000 Agentforce deals closed and production customers up ~50% in Q4.
• Guidance and long‑term framework were reaffirmed and tightened — FY27 revenue guidance of $45.8–46.2B (~10–11% growth) and the FY30 revenue target was raised to $63B, with management expecting organic revenue re‑acceleration in H2 FY27.
• Board approved a larger capital return plan — share repurchase authorization increased to $50 billion, the quarterly dividend was raised 5.8% to $0.44, and management returned >99% of FY26 free cash flow to shareholders.
• Management flagged pockets of weakness—notably Marketing, Commerce and Tableau performance, ~8% Q4 revenue attrition, and CRPO organic growth roughly in line with guidance—which could limit near‑term upside if not addressed.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $192.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $226.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.86. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $313.70. 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 capitalization of $180.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat on the bottom line and revenue held up — adjusted EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05 consensus and revenue $11.20B (~12% YoY). Strong EPS beat is the main near-term catalyst. MarketBeat Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised earnings guidance sharply — FY‑2027 EPS guide of ~13.11–13.19 and Q1 EPS guide above consensus — which supports valuation and helped lift sentiment despite mixed revenue wording. Reuters Guidance Report
• Positive Sentiment: Share buyback — company committed to a large repurchase program (reported as $50B), which is a strong capital-return signal and typically supports near-term stock demand. CNBC Buyback Article
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase — quarterly payout raised to $0.44 (5.8% hike), modest yield but a sign of shareholder-friendly policy. (Company announcement)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street split — Wedbush reiterated Outperform with a high target, showing continued bull conviction, while other firms adjusted targets; these mixed analyst views leave momentum uneven. Wedbush Reiterate
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp trimmed its price target (from a higher prior level to $300) but kept an overweight stance — reduces upside expectations from some bulls but still signals confidence. KeyCorp PT Change
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue growth/guidance nuance and AI fears weigh — some investors focused on mixed/timid revenue language and the sector-wide worry that AI could compress long-term SaaS pricing, which pressured the stock after the print. Proactive: Softer Revenue Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: After‑hours pressure and critique of metrics — third‑party coverage highlighted some metrics below expectations and increased cautious commentary (including reports of post‑earnings weakness), keeping volatility elevated. QuiverQuant Post‑Earnings Coverage

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the third quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 2,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 1,448 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. ANB Bank boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. ANB Bank now owns 5,755 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.