New York, January 6, 2026, 14:42 EST — Regular session
- Salesforce shares rose about 2.6% in afternoon trade, outpacing the broader software sector.
- RBC lifted its Salesforce price target to $290, pointing to clearer AI tailwinds for well-positioned vendors.
- Traders are watching Friday’s U.S. jobs report and the company’s late-February earnings window for the next catalyst.
Salesforce (CRM) shares climbed 2.6% to $262.82 in afternoon trading on Tuesday, tracking a broader bid for large-cap software names as investors leaned back into AI-linked trades.
The move matters because sentiment in enterprise software has turned on a narrow question: which vendors can turn artificial intelligence into billable products without stalling core subscription growth. Salesforce sits near the center of that debate as it pushes AI “agent” tools aimed at automating customer-facing work.
Rate bets are also back in play. Growth stocks tend to move with expectations for Federal Reserve policy, and traders are positioning ahead of a fresh run of U.S. economic prints and the start of quarterly earnings season.
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday on renewed AI optimism, with the S&P 500 up 0.62% and the Nasdaq up 0.61%. “I think we’re going to have a very strong earnings season for Big Tech,” said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, pointing to the risk that big technology spending forecasts get revised higher again. Reuters
RBC Capital analyst Rishi Jaluria raised his price target on Salesforce to $290 from $250 and kept a Sector Perform rating. He said 2026 could be a year when AI tailwinds become more evident for companies positioned for enterprise adoption, even as some peers face an “AI is the death of software” narrative. RBC added that enterprise spending appeared to be stabilizing in select areas, with generative AI — the tech behind many chatbots — driving innovation while management teams stay conservative on early-2026 guidance. TipRanks
Salesforce’s gain outpaced the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), up about 1.1%. Shares of peers Adobe (ADBE), ServiceNow (NOW) and Oracle (ORCL) were up between roughly 0.8% and 1.1% in the same window.
Ahead, investors are likely to focus on Salesforce’s next earnings report, expected around Feb. 25, and whether results and guidance show accelerating demand for its newer AI and data products. Wall Street’s consensus view for that report is for earnings of about $3.05 per share, according to Zacks.
But the setup cuts both ways. If enterprise buyers keep spending tight, or if AI features pressure pricing in legacy software, the stock’s premium valuation can compress quickly—especially if interest-rate expectations shift.
The next near-term catalyst is Friday’s U.S. Employment Situation report for December 2025, due Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET, a key input for rate expectations that can swing high-growth tech stocks.
