New York, Feb 6, 2026, 11:23 (EST) — Regular session
Salesforce shares edged up 0.1% to $190.07 in late-morning trading on Friday, following a session range from $187.29 to $194.52.
The modest dip caps a tough week for Salesforce, as investors unravel the broad “AI trade” and begin to treat software as a possible loser instead of a winner. Salesforce has dropped 9% this week, according to Reuters data. Saxo’s Charu Chanana noted that investors are now “differentiating between who enables AI and who may be disrupted.” 1
Salesforce is set to release its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 25, after markets close. The company will hold a conference call at 5 p.m. Eastern that day. 2
Much of the pressure comes from how fast new AI tools are embedding themselves into software people already rely on. On Thursday, Anthropic rolled out Claude Opus 4.6, an upgraded model boasting longer task handling and improvements in coding and finance. They also teased the ability to process up to 1 million “tokens” — units of text for running prompts — and split tasks across multiple independent agents in their Claude Code feature. Scott White from Anthropic called Claude Cowork “the front door to getting hard work done.” 3
The sector slide has turned chaotic, pushing the S&P 500 software and services index down 4.6% on Thursday. This extended the so-called “software-mageddon” selloff, wiping out roughly $1 trillion in market value since Jan. 28. Salesforce shares dropped 4.7% in the session. “I would classify this as a sell-everything mindset at this point,” said Dave Harrison Smith, chief investment officer at Bailard. Goldman Sachs strategist Ben Snider added that “near-term earnings results will be important signals of business resilience.” 4
The day before, investors debated whether the sell-off had gone too far after a Claude plug-in designed for legal work showed just how quickly AI is encroaching on the “application layer” — the everyday software people rely on. James St. Aubin of Ocean Park Asset Management called it “an awakening to the disruptive power of AI.” On the other hand, JPMorgan’s Mark Murphy described it as “an illogical leap” to think that a new plug-in could replace layers of mission-critical enterprise software. 5
Traders’ main concern centers on the revenue model. Enterprise software largely operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis, with subscriptions charged per user. If AI agents cut down the number of seats a company requires, that growth could stall.
Salesforce now faces added pressure to gauge customer demand accurately. Investors care less about the details of a single quarter and more about whether businesses will continue investing in comprehensive toolkits or pivot toward cutting-edge AI platforms.
The downside isn’t set in stone. If adoption drags or companies hold onto current systems for security, compliance, and workflow reasons, the group could bounce back fast once forced selling eases.
For now, every fresh AI rollout sparks headline risk, and markets swiftly slam shares at the hint of automation threats.
Salesforce’s earnings report and outlook set for Feb. 25 will be the next major catalyst. Investors will zero in on renewal rates and whether there’s any change in customer spending forecasts for 2026.
