Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) is back in focus as Wall Street heads into the final stretch of 2025 with markets watching two big themes at once: year-end positioning and the next phase of “agentic AI” monetization.
On Monday, December 22, 2025, CRM hovered around $263 per share in U.S. trading, with investors weighing upbeat earnings revisions and steady cash returns against persistent questions about whether customers will pay materially more for AI agents in 2026. [1]
Salesforce stock price today: where CRM stands on December 22, 2025
Salesforce shares traded near $263 on Monday morning, with the company valued around the mid-$200 billions market cap range and sitting within a 52-week range roughly spanning the low-$220s to the high-$360s. [2]
That framing matters because CRM’s 2025 story has been less about “is Salesforce still a CRM leader?” (most investors assume yes) and more about how quickly the company can turn its AI pivot into durable growth, without disrupting the economics of its existing seat-based software model.
What’s new for Salesforce stock on December 22, 2025
Several fresh notes and data points circulated Monday that help explain why CRM is showing up on traders’ screens again:
- Momentum and estimate revisions are improving. A Zacks note highlighted that CRM has a strong momentum profile (Style Score “A”), with shares up about 14.4% over the past four weeks and multiple upward EPS revisions in the past two months; the Zacks consensus EPS cited in that note rose to $11.67 for fiscal 2026. [3]
- Institutional positioning remains a talking point. A MarketBeat alert flagged a fund/trustee increasing its Salesforce stake (via 13F reporting), while also summarizing recent earnings, guidance, and notable insider activity. [4]
- Forecast content is circulating again. A 24/7 Wall St. forecast piece (published late November, still widely shared into late December) reiterated a moderate-to-bullish long-range view while emphasizing headwinds around AI adoption and competition. [5]
These aren’t company announcements by themselves—but they shape near-term sentiment, especially during lighter holiday liquidity.
The earnings backdrop investors are still trading: Salesforce Q3 FY2026
The biggest fundamental anchor for CRM into year-end remains Salesforce’s most recent quarterly report.
Salesforce said it delivered record third-quarter fiscal 2026 results (quarter ended Oct. 31, 2025), including:
- Revenue of $10.3 billion (up 9% year over year)
- Subscription & support revenue of $9.7 billion (up 10%)
- Non-GAAP operating margin of 35.5%
- Free cash flow of $2.2 billion (up 22%)
- $4.2 billion returned to shareholders in the quarter, including $3.8 billion in repurchases and $395 million in dividends
- Raised full-year FY2026 revenue guidance to $41.45–$41.55 billion [6]
Reuters’ reporting on the same results emphasized that Salesforce also raised its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted profit outlook, pointing to accelerating interest in its AI agent platform and stronger enterprise demand—while noting the quarter’s revenue was essentially in-line/slightly below consensus estimates tracked by LSEG. [7]
Agentforce and Data 360: the AI KPI Salesforce wants investors to track
In its earnings release, Salesforce positioned Agentforce & Data 360 as the core “momentum drivers,” citing:
- Nearly $1.4B in ARR for Agentforce + Data 360 (up 114% year over year)
- Agentforce ARR surpassing $0.5B (up 330% year over year)
- 9,500+ paid Agentforce deals (and 18,500+ total deals since launch) [8]
For CRM stockholders, these AI metrics are becoming the “tell” for whether Salesforce’s narrative can translate into a higher multiple again.
The big debate driving CRM: can Salesforce monetize AI agents without breaking pricing?
Salesforce’s AI bet is not simply “add a chatbot.” It’s a strategic re-architecture: agents that can take actions across Sales, Service, Marketing, Slack, and data layers—what management frequently frames as the “agentic enterprise.”
But investors keep circling the same question:
If AI agents do more of the work, do customers buy more Salesforce—or do they need fewer seats?
That tension is why pricing has become a headline risk and an opportunity.
Salesforce signals willingness to invest (even at short-term margin cost)
In recent conference commentary covered by TechRadar, Salesforce executives indicated the company is comfortable absorbing near-term economics pressure while customers ramp usage, including interest in a flat-rate enterprise license structure for agentic AI (designed to make costs more predictable). [9]
In plain terms: Salesforce appears willing to trade some near-term unit economics for long-term platform lock-in and expansion—if adoption accelerates.
Salesforce is also tightening economics around its data ecosystem
Separately, CIO.com reported that increased fees tied to Salesforce’s connector/data-access ecosystem are starting to ripple through software vendors, raising concerns among CIOs about higher integration costs and potential friction for AI plans that depend on pulling Salesforce data into other tools. [10]
This matters for CRM stock because Salesforce’s moat has always been partly ecosystem-driven. If partners and customers perceive new “tolls,” Salesforce could face pushback—especially in large enterprises that are trying to avoid vendor lock-in.
Wall Street forecasts for Salesforce stock: price targets and ratings (as of Dec. 22, 2025)
Analyst sentiment remains broadly constructive, though far from unanimous.
MarketBeat’s aggregation on December 22 showed:
- Consensus rating: “Moderate Buy”
- Average 12-month price target: $326.68 (about 24% upside from ~$263)
- High target: $430; low target: $221 [11]
That “Moderate Buy” consensus captures the current split: many firms still like Salesforce’s scale, cash generation, and AI positioning—but want clearer proof that AI revenue is becoming material and profitable.
Recent analyst actions shaping the narrative
Within the past few weeks, MarketBeat’s list of analyst actions included items such as:
- BTIG initiating coverage with a Buy and a $335 target (mid-December)
- Evercore ISI lowering its target to $340 while keeping an Outperform stance (early December)
- Morgan Stanley trimming a high target level (early-to-mid December) [12]
The signal for SEO readers tracking “Salesforce stock forecast” is that targets are still typically above the current price—but dispersion is wide, reflecting execution uncertainty.
The bull case for Salesforce (CRM) stock in 2026
Investors leaning bullish on CRM generally point to five pillars:
- High-quality revenue base + pipeline visibility. Salesforce’s RPO and cRPO growth are often viewed as a forward indicator that the subscription engine remains healthy. [13]
- AI traction that can scale inside the installed base. Salesforce’s deal counts and ARR metrics around Agentforce/Data 360 are designed to show that this isn’t just “innovation theater.” [14]
- Capital returns are now a standing feature, not an exception. The company’s pace of buybacks and dividends remains a critical support for the stock during “prove it” periods. [15]
- Long-range ambition is clearly stated. Salesforce has publicly targeted $60B+ organic revenue by FY2030, and Reuters reported the company projected revenue above $60B in 2030, exceeding the average estimate cited by LSEG at the time. [16]
- Data foundation strengthened by acquisitions. Salesforce has pointed to Informatica as a way to improve governance, cataloging, and data readiness for AI-era workflows. [17]
The bear case: why some investors still hesitate on CRM
Even with improved momentum into late December, the skeptical view remains influential—and it often centers on AI willingness-to-pay.
A KeyBanc CIO survey cited by Barron’s suggested:
- A smaller share of respondents were willing to pay their CRM provider for AI features (as reported), and
- Reported usage of Salesforce’s Agentforce tools was still low in that survey snapshot. [18]
Other risks regularly raised in Salesforce stock analysis include:
- Competitive pressure from Microsoft, Oracle, ServiceNow, and others pitching AI productivity suites and workflow platforms. [19]
- Security and social engineering risk around customers and the ecosystem. Reuters previously covered a hacker-group claim involving Salesforce-related data access attempts focused on Salesforce customers, with Salesforce stating its systems were not hacked and highlighting “vishing” as a vector. [20]
- Pricing and ecosystem friction if higher connector/data-access fees complicate integration-heavy enterprise stacks. [21]
In short: Salesforce can’t just show that Agentforce exists. It has to show that Agentforce is (1) adopted, (2) monetized, and (3) sticky—without creating customer backlash.
What to watch next for Salesforce stock
For readers following “CRM stock news” and “Salesforce stock forecast” into 2026, the next catalysts are straightforward:
- Evidence that Agentforce is expanding from pilots to broad production deployments (and that it’s measurable in ARR and renewal behavior). [22]
- Clarity on AI pricing models (flat-rate vs. consumption vs. hybrid) and how that impacts margins over time. [23]
- Buyback pace and cash flow durability, especially if macro conditions tighten enterprise budgets again. [24]
- Ecosystem reaction to connector/data-access economics, particularly among CIOs and major ISVs building cross-platform AI workflows. [25]
Bottom line on December 22, 2025
As of today, Salesforce stock is being priced like a company in transition: a mature software leader with strong cash generation—and a very large AI promise that still needs to prove it can translate into sustained, high-quality growth.
That’s why CRM can rally on improving estimates and buybacks, yet still face sharp scrutiny on every datapoint tied to Agentforce adoption and monetization. [26]
References
1. www.marketbeat.com, 2. www.marketbeat.com, 3. finviz.com, 4. www.marketbeat.com, 5. 247wallst.com, 6. www.salesforce.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.salesforce.com, 9. www.techradar.com, 10. www.cio.com, 11. www.marketbeat.com, 12. www.marketbeat.com, 13. www.salesforce.com, 14. www.salesforce.com, 15. www.salesforce.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.salesforce.com, 18. www.barrons.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.cio.com, 22. www.salesforce.com, 23. www.techradar.com, 24. www.salesforce.com, 25. www.cio.com, 26. finviz.com
