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Salesforce stock holds price target, buy rating with new AI focus

EditorNatashya Angelica
Published 09/20/2024, 10:23 AM
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On Friday, BofA Securities maintained a Buy rating on Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) shares with a steady price target of $325.00. The endorsement comes after Salesforce's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, where the company spotlighted its new autonomous agents, Agentforce, previously known as Einstein Copilot. This addition is a significant enhancement to Salesforce's AI offerings, complementing Data Cloud and Agent Builder, tools for data management and custom agent development, respectively.

During the event, BofA Securities gathered insights from conversations with a dozen key partners, revealing a promising early interest in Agentforce. This has reportedly led to a growing pipeline of deals for Data Cloud. The conference also shone a light on stable activity in Salesforce's Sales and Service Cloud and highlighted the strength of Mulesoft and industry-specific clouds.

Partners at the conference indicated a surge in the Slack pipeline, attributed to its tighter integration within the Salesforce ecosystem and the introduction of new AI features. These developments suggest a positive outlook for Salesforce's suite of products and services, with Agentforce being a notable driver of future growth.

The analyst's report underscores the potential for Agentforce to enhance Salesforce's AI stack, which is becoming an increasingly critical component for businesses seeking to leverage artificial intelligence. With the positive feedback from partners, Salesforce appears well-positioned to capitalize on this burgeoning demand.

Salesforce's strategic focus on AI and the integration of Slack demonstrates the company's commitment to innovation and its efforts to remain at the forefront of the customer relationship management (CRM) industry. The maintained price target of $325.00 by BofA Securities reflects confidence in Salesforce's direction and its ability to deliver value to its customers and investors alike.

In other recent news, Salesforce.com has reported robust second-quarter earnings, with earnings per share reaching $2.56, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.36. The company also saw an 8% increase in sales, primarily driven by a 9% rise in subscription and support revenues. In addition, Salesforce entered a definitive agreement to acquire Own Company, a provider of data protection and management solutions, for $1.9 billion in cash.

Salesforce's recent DreamForce conference showcased Agentforce, a major development in AI Agent platforms, which has been met with enthusiasm despite challenging market conditions. Analyst firms such as TD Cowen, Needham, and Baird have maintained their ratings on Salesforce, while Truist Securities revised its price target for Salesforce to $300, maintaining a Buy rating.

However, Erste Group downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold due to projected slower growth. Recent developments include the launch of Agentforce, an AI-driven suite of autonomous bots, and a partnership with IBM (NYSE:IBM) to integrate advanced AI capabilities into its platform. Salesforce also reported a significant increase in the adoption of its Data Cloud platform, with a 130% year-over-year growth in its paid customer base.


InvestingPro Insights


As Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) continues to make waves with its innovative AI offerings such as Agentforce, the InvestingPro data and tips provide a deeper understanding of the company's financial health and market position.

Salesforce's market capitalization stands at a robust $255.62 billion, and it boasts an impressive gross profit margin of 76.35% over the last twelve months as of Q2 2025. This margin is a testament to the company's efficient operations and strong pricing power. Salesforce has demonstrated a solid revenue growth of 10.26% over the same period, signaling a consistent ability to expand its market share and product offerings.

InvestingPro Tips highlight that Salesforce has a perfect Piotroski Score of 9, indicating a very healthy financial state, and that management has been actively buying back shares, a sign of confidence in the company's future prospects.

Moreover, 23 analysts have revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period, further underscoring the positive sentiment surrounding Salesforce's performance and strategic initiatives like Agentforce. For those interested in further analysis and tips, InvestingPro offers additional insights on Salesforce.com at InvestingPro Salesforce.

The data and insights from InvestingPro reinforce the optimistic outlook presented by BofA Securities, painting a picture of a company that is not only leading in innovation but also demonstrating solid financial metrics and garnering confidence from both management and analysts alike.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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