Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $235.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Susquehanna started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.28.

Salesforce Stock Up 14.3%

CRM opened at $235.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $192.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $177.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.60. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat expectations: Salesforce reported adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, slightly exceeding estimates. Salesforce Q2 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook: Management increased fiscal 2027 guidance to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion in revenue and $16.67-$16.71 in EPS. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $3.42-$3.44 also exceeds the $3.16 consensus, signaling confidence in sustained growth. Salesforce Raises Annual Revenue Forecasts on AI Product Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is accelerating: Agentforce annual recurring revenue reached $1.5 billion, and management said AI usage on the platform increased sixfold. These metrics help counter fears that generative AI could replace traditional enterprise software. Salesforce Q2 2027 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership expands: Salesforce and Anthropic introduced “Claudeforce,” integrating Claude with Salesforce data, workflows and 37 prebuilt sales skills. The collaboration supports Salesforce’s effort to make AI agents a growth engine and reinforces its competitive positioning. Salesforce and Anthropic Announce Claudeforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved: Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $400 target, while Monness Crespi & Hardt raised its target to $266 and Cantor Fitzgerald maintained Overweight with a $250 target. These targets imply substantial upside but do not guarantee future performance.
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Revenue growth remains near 11%, and Salesforce’s stock has been volatile amid concerns about AI-driven software disruption. The large investment gain cited in the quarter may also be less recurring than operating results.

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.