Salesforce (CRM) Stock News: Shares Slide 3% on Weak Guidance, AI Ambitions Tested

Stock performance: On Sept 30, 2025, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) closed around $237.41, down about 3.1% on the day ^[1]. This follows a few days of choppy trading: the stock had traded in the mid-$240s (e.g. $245.10 on Sept 29 ^[2]) before Friday’s drop. Over the past week it saw both modest gains and losses – closing $243.43 (+1.0%) on Sept 26 and $240.95 (–2.0%) on Sept 25 ^[3]. Year-to-date CRM remains off its highs (roughly ~$258 in early September), as investors weigh slower enterprise spending and AI integration concerns.
Recent news highlights: In early September Salesforce reported Q2 FY2026 results with $10.24 B in revenue (up ~10% YoY) ^[4], but its Q3 revenue guidance ($10.24–10.29 B) came in below Wall Street expectations ^[5] ^[6]. That weak forecast sent CRM shares sharply lower in after-hours trading (≈–7% on Sept 4) ^[7]. Other developments: Salesforce announced a $6 B investment in UK AI initiatives (through 2030) on Sept 16, underscoring its AI focus ^[8]. The company also rolled out its “Winter ’26” product release on Sept 8, featuring new AI/data enhancements (Agentforce IT service, Agentforce Grid, etc.) ^[9]. Security-related news has been prominent: several major Salesforce customers were hit by cyber-attacks, leading to lawsuits against Salesforce (14 suits filed in Sept over platform breaches ^[10] ^[11]).
Analyst forecasts & outlook: Analysts remain broadly bullish but cautious. The consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” on CRM, with a one-year average price target ~$333 (implying ~40% upside) ^[12]. Price targets span a wide range (roughly $221 to $405) reflecting differing views on AI growth versus integration challenges ^[13]. For example, Morgan Stanley just raised its target to $405 (Overweight) on Sept 6 ^[14], and Goldman Sachs maintains a $385 target (Buy) citing 120% growth in its Data Cloud and 6,000 paid AI deals ^[15]. In contrast, UBS recently cut its target to $260 (Neutral), warning that integrating the Informatica deal will be slow ^[16]. In sum, Wall Street sees potential long-term AI-driven growth but notes near-term pressure on spending.
Expert commentary: Market strategists warn investors not to lose patience with Salesforce’s AI investments. Melissa Otto of S&P Global’s Visible Alpha notes, “Investors may feel a sense of frustration … as they contemplate the timeline for adequate returns on AI investments” ^[17]. Valoir CEO Rebecca Wettemann adds that Salesforce’s renewed M&A push “will offer even more intelligent agentic capabilities to customers,” pointing to deals like Informatica (data management) and Convergence.ai ^[18] ^[19]. Salesforce executives remain upbeat: CEO Marc Benioff hailed Q2 as “an outstanding quarter” on all metrics ^[20], and CFO Robin Washington noted it was their 10th straight quarter of margin expansion ^[21]. Still, some see caution. “Investors have grown impatient,” said one analyst, given macro headwinds.
Investor sentiment & technicals: Retail traders remain moderately bullish on CRM. A recent poll of CFD positions found about 97% are net long (bullish) ^[22]. Analysts’ moderate-buy consensus (≈3 buys for every 1 hold) reinforces that view ^[23]. Technically, CRM is trading near key moving averages: it hovers around the 50-day line and below the 100- and 200-day averages ^[24]. The 14-day RSI is roughly neutral (~50), and momentum indicators show no strong trend. Notably, CEO Marc Benioff sold blocks of stock in mid-late Sept (about 2,250 shares/day at ~$242–$251), which some investors watch as a contrarian signal ^[25].
Competitive positioning & environment: Salesforce remains the dominant CRM vendor. IDC reports it holds ~21–22% global CRM market share (12th year in a row at #1) ^[26] ^[27] – far ahead of nearest rivals (Microsoft Dynamics is ~6%). But competition is heating up: ServiceNow under Bill McDermott is now aggressively targeting CRM (even partnering with Microsoft on AI) ^[28], and SAP/Oracle continue to push AI analytics tools. At the same time, broader SaaS spending has slowed (a recent report found aggregate SaaS growth is flat as budgets shift to AI) ^[29]. In this environment, Salesforce’s bet on “agentic AI” (Agentforce) and integrated AI/data stacks is seen as key to staying ahead ^[30] ^[31].

Sources: Stock prices and trading data from Investing.com ^[32]; company press releases and financial results ^[33] ^[34]; news reports and analysis from Reuters, Salesforce Ben, and MarketBeat ^[35] ^[36] ^[37] ^[38] ^[39]. These provide the latest market info, expert quotes, and forecast estimates.