Salesforce (CRM) After-Hours on December 11, 2025: AI Contracts, Price Hikes and Analyst Targets to Watch Before the December 12 Open

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) ended Thursday, December 11, 2025 with a quiet share price but loud headlines, as investors digested new government AI deals, price hikes on data-heavy apps, and another round of bullish analyst forecasts ahead of Friday’s U.S. market open on December 12.

During regular trading, Salesforce stock slipped about 0.7% to roughly $262.35, after moving between about $261 and $267 on the day. After-hours trading left the stock essentially flat, hovering just above $262, signalling consolidation rather than a fresh breakout or breakdown. ^[1]

At the same time, multiple research houses and valuation platforms now argue that CRM could be 20–30% undervalued, even after a double‑digit rebound over the past week. TechStock²+1

Below is a structured rundown of what moved the story on December 11—and what matters most before the bell on Friday, December 12.

1. How Salesforce Stock Looked After the Bell

Close (Dec 11, 2025): about $262.35, down roughly 0.7% on the day. ^[2]
After-hours: trading around $262–263, essentially unchanged, according to multiple quote providers. ^[3]
Range: intraday high near $267, low around $261, showing mild profit‑taking after a strong recent bounce. ^[4]

Valuation‑focused site Simply Wall St notes that, despite this rebound, Salesforce shares remain about 20% lower year‑to‑date and roughly 25% below their level a year ago, even after a 10.7% gain over the last week and 9.3% over the past month. ^[5]

In other words: price action is stabilising, but the longer‑term drawdown leaves room for upside—if the AI story keeps improving and macro conditions cooperate.

2. Big Contract Win: U.S. Department of Transportation Expands Salesforce & Agentforce

The headline fundamental catalyst on December 11 was a major public‑sector expansion.

Salesforce announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is broadening its use of the platform and deploying Agentforce AI agents across national transportation and safety systems. ^[6]

According to Salesforce’s own release and syndicated summaries:

USDOT is unifying operations on Salesforce to manage data and workflows more coherently across the agency. ^[7]
The department plans to use AI agents to help modernize safety monitoring, citizen support, and management of billions of dollars in federal grants, leveraging Agentforce and Data 360 as the data and AI backbone. ^[8]
Commentators in CX and public‑sector tech note that this deepens Salesforce’s federal footprint and provides a high‑visibility reference customer for Agentforce in government. ^[9]

Why it matters for the stock before Friday’s open

This is recurring, sticky revenue: large government modernisation programs tend to be multi‑year and expansion‑prone.
It validates Salesforce’s pitch that AI agents aren’t just demos—they’re running real workloads in safety‑critical environments.
It strengthens the narrative that Agentforce is gaining traction beyond Silicon Valley, into government, education and life sciences (DeVry, AstraZeneca and others have been highlighted as recent wins). TechStock²+1

For investors, this deal reinforces the idea that Agentforce is becoming a platform standard for complex, regulated organisations—an important plank in the long‑term growth story.

3. New Revenue Lever: Salesforce Raises Prices on Apps That Tap Its Data

On the same day, Reuters reported that Salesforce is raising prices on applications that “tap its data,” as first detailed by The Information. ^[10]

While the full pricing grid is behind paywalls, the gist from Reuters‑syndicated feeds is:

Salesforce has increased what certain third‑party tools pay to access and replicate data from Salesforce apps, including popular integration tools historically used to sync Salesforce data into other systems. ^[11]
The move is framed as an effort to better monetise Salesforce’s data layer at a time when AI‑ready data is becoming a key competitive asset.

MarketScreener’s feed, which tracks Salesforce headlines in real time, shows this pricing news hitting the tape mid‑afternoon U.S. time, just as CRM drifted lower into the close. ^[12]

Potential implications ahead of December 12:

Margin positive: If customers and partners accept the new pricing, this could support higher long‑term gross margins, especially as AI workloads increase data usage.
Customer pushback risk: Integration partners and data‑heavy customers may balk at higher costs or look for alternatives, especially if they feel locked in.
AI monetisation narrative: The change fits a broader pattern of Salesforce trying to turn its data and AI investments into concrete, usage‑based revenue streams, tightening the link between value delivered and what customers pay.

Traders will be watching for any follow‑up commentary from partners or customers overnight that could colour early sentiment.

4. Platform Shift: Agentforce 360 Opens to Partners and ISVs

Another important December 11 development is more subtle but strategically significant: Salesforce is opening Agentforce 360 to independent software vendors (ISVs) and partners.

Specialist site SalesforceBen calls this “the most significant expansion of the Salesforce Platform for partners since the launch of Force.com”, noting that ISVs can now embed Agentforce 360, Agentforce Marketing, Agentforce Financial Services, and Data 360 as the foundation of their own AI‑powered applications. ^[13]

Key points from that analysis:

Partners can now build and commercially distribute AI agents on top of the same AI‑native stack Salesforce uses internally.
They gain access to flexible pricing and packaging, including seat‑based, usage‑based and Flex Credit models, plus future AppExchange auto‑billing and usage analytics. ^[14]
Industry analysts quoted in the piece argue that this could “expand the opportunity” for ISVs and system integrators to scale agentic applications with less overhead, effectively turning Agentforce into an ecosystem play, not just a product. ^[15]

This platform opening dovetails with Salesforce’s own UK Cyber Week data release, which shows that AI agents powered by Agentforce 360 and related products influenced roughly 20% of global orders and helped drive record digital sales volumes during the late‑November shopping period. ^[16]

Why this matters before Friday’s open

It reframes Salesforce as a foundational AI platform provider, not just a CRM app vendor.
The more ISVs build on Agentforce 360, the stronger the network effects and switching costs become.
For equity investors, it strengthens the long‑term thesis that AI agents and data services will be high‑margin growth engines, complementing the more mature core CRM business.

5. Ecosystem News: ZS, Life Sciences and Agentforce

Beyond government and retail, Salesforce also expanded its life sciences ecosystem on December 11.

Consulting and analytics firm ZS announced it is bringing its ZAIDYN® intelligence platform directly into Salesforce’s Agentforce Life Sciences, with the integration slated to be available from January 2026. ^[17]

According to the PR:

The integration is designed to boost sales and marketing performance for pharma and biotech customers by improving omnichannel orchestration and field‑force planning within Salesforce workflows. ^[18]

This builds on an earlier announcement that AstraZeneca has chosen Agentforce Life Sciences as its unified global engagement platform, underscoring Salesforce’s push into AI‑driven customer engagement in regulated health markets. TechStock²+1

Investor takeaway: Salesforce is methodically stacking high‑value vertical solutions (public sector, education, life sciences, retail) on top of Agentforce and Data 360—exactly the kind of multi‑cloud, industry‑specific adoption that management cites in its long‑term revenue targets.

6. Analyst Targets & Valuation: From $325 to $475 and Beyond

6.1. Arete: Aggressive $475 Target

On December 11, research firm Arete raised its Salesforce price target from $415 to $475 while maintaining a Buy rating. ^[19]

Coverage summarised by MT Newswires and Ad‑hoc‑News notes that:

Arete’s new target implies over 80% upside from recent trading levels. ^[20]
The firm argues that Salesforce is poised for “significant revaluation” as AI monetisation becomes more visible and Agentforce deals scale.

6.2. Cantor Fitzgerald: Overweight, $325 Target

Also highlighted on December 11, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “Overweight” rating with a $325 target. ^[21]

In its note (summarised by Finviz):

Cantor praises Salesforce for clarifying its pricing strategy around AI and data, organising offerings into seat‑based SKUs, pay‑as‑you‑go usage, and new Agentic Enterprise License Agreements (AELAs). ^[22]
The firm points out that Salesforce already has 16 AELAs in production, each adding over $1 million in incremental ARR, with 10–20 new opportunities entering the pipeline each week. ^[23]

For short‑term traders, these AELA figures are a concrete sign that AI‑driven licensing is starting to show up in recurring revenue, not just in slide decks.

6.3. Broader Street Consensus

A synthesized outlook piece from TechStock² (TS2) pulls together multiple analyst aggregators as of December 11: TechStock²+1

MarketBeat: 42 analysts, consensus “Moderate Buy”, average 12‑month price target around $326.46 (range roughly $221–$430), implying about 24% upside from the mid‑$260s. TechStock²
StockAnalysis: 35 analysts, consensus “Buy”, average target near $324.49, similar upside. TechStock²+1
Several valuation‑focused platforms cluster around $330 as a median 12‑month fair value based on cash‑flow and earnings models. TechStock²+1

InsiderMonkey’s survey of Wall Street sentiment (Dec 11) adds that around 80% of analysts are bullish, with a median target of $327.50, implying roughly 26% upside from recent prices. ^[24]

6.4. Fundamental Valuation Models

Fundamental‑centric platforms add more colour:

Simply Wall St’s discounted cash‑flow (DCF) model pegs intrinsic value at about $358 per share, suggesting Salesforce is 26.2% undervalued on cash‑flow fundamentals. It also argues that Salesforce’s current P/E of ~34x is attractive versus a “fair” multiple of ~40.7x, given its growth and profitability profile. ^[25]
A free‑cash‑flow model from Barchart, cited in the TS2 outlook, estimates Salesforce is around 23% undervalued, with a one‑year price target near $321, assuming trailing FCF margins around 32% and modest multiple expansion. TechStock²

Bottom line on valuation:

Even after the recent bounce, most mainstream models still see 20–30% upside over 12 months, with more aggressive houses like Arete pushing targets well above that. However, forecasts diverge sharply beyond that horizon, depending on how convincingly Salesforce can monetise AI and sustain high margins.

7. Growth vs. AI: Zacks and AP Highlight the Tension

7.1. Slower Top-Line Growth, Faster AI

A fresh Zacks piece on December 11, syndicated via Nasdaq, underscores the core tension in the Salesforce story: growth has slowed, but AI products are accelerating. ^[26]

Key data points:

Fiscal 2026 revenue growth has cooled to single digits:
- Q1: +7.6% YoY
- Q2: +9.8% YoY
- Q3: +8.6% YoY ^[27]
Salesforce is betting that Agentforce and its broader AI/data ecosystem will re‑accelerate growth over time.

That matches the company’s own Q3 FY26 results, released on December 3, which showed: ^[28]

Revenue: $10.3 billion, up 9% YoY
Subscription & support revenue: $9.7 billion, up 10% YoY
Operating cash flow: $2.3 billion, up 17% YoY; free cash flow up 22% YoY
Agentforce + Data 360 ARR: nearly $1.4 billion, up 114% YoY, with Agentforce ARR itself up 330% YoY and 3.2 trillion tokens processed.

Management raised full‑year FY26 revenue guidance to $41.45–$41.55 billion and nudged up full‑year EPS and cash‑flow guidance, while reaffirming a long‑term aspiration to exceed $60 billion in annual revenue by 2030. ^[29]

7.2. Investor Skepticism on AI Monetisation

An Associated Press feature last week captures why the stock still trades at a discount to its highs: investors remain wary about how quickly Salesforce can turn AI hype into durable profits. ^[30]

AP notes that:

Salesforce has suffered a roughly 35% market‑cap decline from its peak, despite beating Q3 earnings expectations and raising guidance.
CEO Marc Benioff has leaned heavily into the “agentic enterprise” vision, including laying off about 4,000 support workers as Agentforce takes over more tasks—moves that raise both optimism and concern. ^[31]
Some market participants now view Salesforce as a “poster child” for doubts about AI adoption, even as the company doubles down on AI partnerships and acquisitions like the $8 billion Informatica deal. ^[32]

The result is a push‑pull dynamic: fundamentals and AI metrics look strong, but many investors are still in “prove it” mode.

8. Institutional Flows and Ownership Moves

Regulatory filings compiled by MarketBeat on December 11 point to modest portfolio reshuffling, not wholesale repositioning: ^[33]

Nebula Research & Development LLC reported selling an unspecified number of Salesforce shares.
Investment House LLC disclosed buying 10,108 shares of CRM.

Given Salesforce’s share count near one billion, these holdings are too small on their own to move the stock, but they illustrate the normal give‑and‑take among institutional holders as they reassess AI exposure and software valuations.

9. Key Levels and Context Going Into the December 12 Open

A previous TS2 article on CRM’s after‑hours trade around December 10 highlighted the $260–$265 zone as an important near‑term technical area to watch. TechStock²

With Thursday’s close around $262, Salesforce sits right in that band:

Hold above ~$260: bulls can argue for consolidation above prior resistance, keeping the door open to a retest of the $270–$280 region if broader tech sentiment improves.
Break convincingly below $260 on volume: would reinforce worries about slowing growth and AI skepticism, and could see CRM drift back toward the mid‑$240s–$250s where it traded earlier this year. TechStock²+1

Macro and sector context also matter:

Oracle’s recent earnings miss and double‑digit stock drop have fuelled talk of an “AI bubble” in enterprise software, creating a more cautious backdrop for richly valued names like Salesforce. ^[34]
At the same time, steady U.S. jobs data and expectations for further Fed easing have supported risk assets, helping CRM participate in the recent AI‑led rebound. ^[35]

10. What Investors Should Watch Before the Bell on December 12, 2025

Here are the main overnight and pre‑market checkpoints that could influence how Salesforce trades at Friday’s open:

Follow‑through on the USDOT AI announcement
- Any additional commentary from federal tech officials or Salesforce executives could reinforce the perception that Agentforce is now mission‑critical infrastructure for government.
- Positive media spin could support CRM and related public‑sector‑exposed software names. ^[36]
Market reaction to Salesforce’s data‑access price hikes
- Watch for blog posts, social‑media threads, or partner communications from data‑integration vendors reacting to the new pricing for apps that tap Salesforce data.
- A narrative of “rational monetisation” would be good for margins; a narrative of “surprise tax on partners” could weigh on sentiment. ^[37]
Fresh analyst commentary and target revisions
- After Arete’s $475 target and Cantor’s reiterated $325 call, more brokers could update their CRM models to reflect Q3 numbers, Agentforce metrics and the USDOT deal. ^[38]
- Equity research notes published late Thursday or early Friday often guide institutional pre‑market flows.
AI and software sector risk appetite
- Oracle’s stumble has already made investors more selective within AI and cloud software. If broader tech indices struggle or if other AI names disappoint, Salesforce could trade lower in sympathy, regardless of its own news. ^[39]
Technical behaviour around $260–$265
- Pre‑market volume near these levels will show whether buyers are stepping in on the back of “undervalued AI platform” narratives, or whether short‑term traders want to fade the recent bounce. TechStock²+1
Ongoing ecosystem headlines
- Additional stories about Agentforce 360 partners, life sciences integrations like ZS’s ZAIDYN, or retail AI adoption (e.g., Cyber Week data) will keep feeding the long‑term AI platform thesis even if they don’t move the stock immediately. ^[40]

11. The Bigger Picture: Salesforce Heading Into Friday’s Session

Summing up the December 11 news flow:

Fundamentals: Q3 FY26 remains a solid print with rising cash flow and expanding AI ARR, but top‑line growth is in high single digits, not the boom times of old. ^[41]
AI traction: USDOT, ZS, Cyber Week data and the Agentforce 360 partner expansion all support the idea that Salesforce is moving from AI experimentation to scaled deployment. ^[42]
Valuation: Most models still see meaningful upside, but investors remain divided on how quickly AI will translate into durable revenue growth and whether current margins are sustainable. TechStock²+2Simply Wall St+2
Sentiment: Analysts are broadly bullish, yet the stock’s drawdown and the broader AI‑software wobble mean sentiment is optimistic but cautious. ^[43]

For traders and long‑term investors alike, Friday’s open on December 12, 2025 will be less about a single headline and more about how the market weighs three competing forces:

Strong AI and data momentum (Agentforce, Data 360, big‑logo deals)
Slower overall revenue growth and macro uncertainty
A valuation that many models call attractive, but that still prices Salesforce as a premium franchise