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

by
30 September 2025
  • 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.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff on what the market is getting wrong about AI
Watch this video on YouTube.

References

1. www.investing.com, 2. www.investing.com, 3. www.investing.com, 4. www.salesforceben.com, 5. www.salesforceben.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.salesforceben.com, 8. www.salesforce.com, 9. www.salesforce.com, 10. www.salesforceben.com, 11. www.salesforceben.com, 12. www.marketbeat.com, 13. capital.com, 14. capital.com, 15. capital.com, 16. capital.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.salesforce.com, 20. www.salesforce.com, 21. www.salesforce.com, 22. capital.com, 23. www.marketbeat.com, 24. capital.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com, 26. www.salesforce.com, 27. www.cio.com, 28. www.cio.com, 29. www.salesforceben.com, 30. www.salesforceben.com, 31. www.cio.com, 32. www.investing.com, 33. www.salesforce.com, 34. www.salesforce.com, 35. www.reuters.com, 36. www.salesforceben.com, 37. www.marketbeat.com, 38. capital.com, 39. www.marketbeat.com

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CEO of TS2 Space and founder of TS2.tech. Expert in satellites, telecommunications, and emerging technologies, covering trends in space, AI, and connectivity.

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