Salesforce (CRM) Stock Gets Upgraded After Wall Street Calls Sell-Off Overdone

TLDR

• Salesforce stock has dropped ~41% year-to-date and ~58% from its late-2024 peak, opening at $165.94 on Friday
• Guggenheim upgraded CRM from Neutral to Buy with a $228 price target, calling current valuations an “Armageddon” scenario
• Wall Street consensus sits at Moderate Buy, with an average price target of ~$254, implying 55%–57% upside
• Salesforce beat Q1 earnings estimates with EPS of $3.88 vs. $3.13 expected, and revenue of $11.13B, up 13.3% YoY
• Its AI suite — including Agentforce and Slack-based agents — is generating over $2.3B in annual recurring revenue

Salesforce (CRM) stock opened at $165.94 on Friday, down roughly 41% year-to-date and about 58% from its late-2024 peak near $276.80. The sell-off has been driven largely by fears that AI agents could make traditional CRM tools obsolete.

Salesforce, Inc., CRM

But Wall Street isn’t so sure the story is over.

Guggenheim analyst John DiFucci upgraded CRM from Neutral to Buy this week, setting a price target of $228. His argument: at roughly 3.7x recurring revenue and 11x EV/NTM free cash flow, the stock is already priced for a scenario where the business shrinks 5% forever — something he called unrealistic.

Citigroup also upgraded Salesforce to Buy this week, adding to a growing chorus of analysts who think the selloff has gone too far.

The current Wall Street consensus stands at Moderate Buy, with 28 analysts rating it a Buy, 6 a Hold, and 4 a Sell.

The average price target sits around $254, which implies around 55%–57% upside from current levels. Citizens JMP has the most bullish target on the Street at $315.

Earnings Beat, Guidance Set

Salesforce posted Q1 results on May 27th that came in ahead of expectations. The company reported EPS of $3.88, beating the $3.13 consensus estimate by $0.75. Revenue came in at $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year-over-year, just ahead of the $11.05 billion analysts expected.

For the full year FY2027, the company guided for EPS of $14.060–$14.120. Q2 2027 guidance sits at $3.250–$3.270 EPS.

The company has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $276.80. Its 50-day moving average is $173.23, and its 200-day moving average sits at $197.71.

AI Revenue Already Coming In

Despite the concerns about AI disruption, Salesforce’s own AI products are putting up real numbers. Its suite — which includes Agentforce, Data 360, Slack-based AI agents, and Headless 360 APIs — is generating over $2.3 billion in fast-growing annual recurring revenue.

That’s the number analysts pointing to as evidence the company isn’t just defending its turf — it’s building new ground.

On the institutional side, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA increased its Salesforce position by 284.1% in Q1, buying 12,568 additional shares, bringing its total holding to 16,992 shares worth around $3.17 million.

Vanguard Group holds 89.8 million shares valued at approximately $23.8 billion. State Street holds 50 million shares, and institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share on July 2nd, representing a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of approximately 1.1%.

The company’s board authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program in March, allowing it to buy back up to 14.1% of outstanding stock through open market purchases.

HC Wainwright went the other direction, downgrading CRM to a Negative rating on June 18th — one of only four Sell-side ratings currently on the stock.

The post Salesforce (CRM) Stock Gets Upgraded After Wall Street Calls Sell-Off Overdone appeared first on CoinCentral.