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Salesforce shares jumped 5% on Friday, extending a rally that began after the company’s better‑than‑expected earnings report earlier in the week.
The stock has risen 13% over the past five trading days, marking its strongest weekly performance since December 2023.
For the third quarter, Salesforce reported adjusted earnings of $3.25 per share, comfortably beating Wall Street estimates of $2.86. Revenue grew 8.6% year‑over‑year to $10.26 billion, just shy of the $10.27 billion consensus forecast.
The broader artificial‑intelligence boom has lifted a host of tech names, yet cloud‑software vendors have faced a volatile year as investors grapple with the question of whether AI will render traditional SaaS offerings obsolete.
Salesforce is betting that AI will augment, not replace, its portfolio. “Investors somehow think software companies are under arrest from AI, when the opposite is true,” CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC on Thursday.
During the quarter, Salesforce closed two strategic acquisitions: Regrello, a startup focused on AI‑driven contract analytics, and Waii, which uses natural‑language processing to generate code from plain‑text instructions. Both deals are intended to deepen the company’s AI capabilities and broaden its addressable market.
Despite a 22% drop in Salesforce’s shares year‑to‑date—a stark contrast to the Nasdaq’s 22% gain—analysts are increasingly optimistic about the firm’s 2026 outlook.
Mizuho analysts wrote, “Salesforce continues to be levered to digital transformation, and we expect the company to grow at a solid rate going forward. At the same time, we believe Salesforce will remain fiscally disciplined and can continue to drive higher operating and free‑cash‑flow margins.”
The firm’s AI platform, Agentforce, is a focal point of that optimism. Agentforce builds autonomous agents that automate routine business tasks and streamline workflows across sales, service, and marketing functions.
Initial investor skepticism around the platform has softened as adoption accelerates, particularly in the customer‑service arena. Cantor analysts noted, “Salesforce is formalizing and maturing its strategy, which should make it easier for customers to understand and adopt Agentforce.”
Agentforce’s annual recurring revenue surged 330% year‑over‑year to $540 million, reflecting both strong enterprise demand and the platform’s scalability.
Benioff summed up the market’s excitement: “Agentforce is what AI was meant to be—it brings together humans, data, AI, and applications to deliver an incredible experience for companies.”
Looking ahead, Salesforce’s roadmap includes deeper integration of generative AI across its core CRM suite, expanded API ecosystems for third‑party developers, and a focus on monetizing AI‑enhanced features through tiered subscription models. If the company can sustain its AI‑driven revenue growth while maintaining disciplined cost controls, it could re‑establish itself as a bellwether for the cloud‑software sector.
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