Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) stock is closing out 2025 with two narratives battling for investor attention: accelerating traction in its Agentforce and Data 360 products, and a growing industry debate about how reliably large language models (LLMs) can “run the business” without guardrails.
On December 24, 2025, Salesforce shares traded around $266 and were modestly higher on the day, but the stock remains down roughly ~21% year-to-date after a volatile year that saw the shares swing from a 52-week high of $367.09 (Jan. 28, 2025) to a 52-week low of $221.96 (Nov. 21, 2025). [1]
Below is what’s driving the Salesforce stock story right now—pulling together the latest news, forecasts, and analyses dated Dec. 24, 2025, plus the most relevant near-term fundamentals and forward-looking signals investors are watching heading into 2026. [2]
Salesforce stock price snapshot on Dec. 24, 2025
By midday on Dec. 24, CRM was trading near $266 and up just under 1%, reflecting a calm tape on a holiday-shortened session. [3]
Even with the rebound from the November low, the 2025 scorecard still shows meaningful drawdown:
- Year-to-date (YTD): ~-21%
- 52-week range: $221.96 to $367.09
- Market cap: roughly $246B [4]
Those numbers matter for SEO-friendly context, but they also frame the real investor question: Is CRM being priced like a “mature software compounder with improving margins,” or like a “SaaS incumbent facing AI disruption risk”?
The fundamental anchor: Salesforce’s Q3 FY2026 results and updated guidance
The most concrete “ground truth” for Salesforce stock today remains the company’s latest quarterly report—Q3 fiscal 2026 (ended Oct. 31, 2025)—released on December 3, 2025.
Salesforce reported:
- Revenue: $10.3B (+9% YoY)
- Subscription & support revenue: $9.7B (+10% YoY)
- Current remaining performance obligation (cRPO): $29.4B (+11% YoY)
- Remaining performance obligation (RPO): $59.5B (+12% YoY)
- Non-GAAP operating margin: 35.5%
- Returned $4.2B to shareholders (including $3.8B in share repurchases and $395M in dividends) [5]
Just as important: Salesforce raised its full-year FY26 revenue guidance to $41.45B–$41.55B (up ~9%–10% YoY) and laid out Q4 FY26 revenue guidance of $11.13B–$11.23B. [6]
For 2026-focused investors, this is the core setup: Salesforce is trying to prove it can combine mid-to-high single-digit (or low double-digit) revenue growth with durable margin expansion, while layering AI monetization on top—without compromising predictability.
Agentforce and Data 360: the growth engine bulls are underwriting
Salesforce is explicitly positioning Agentforce and Data 360 as momentum drivers—and the company’s latest numbers show why this has become the centerpiece of the CRM stock debate.
In its Q3 FY26 update, Salesforce said:
- Agentforce + Data 360 ARR reached nearly $1.4B (+114% YoY)
- Agentforce ARR surpassed “half a billion” in Q3 and grew 330% YoY
- Over 9,500 paid Agentforce deals (and more than 18,500 total Agentforce deals since launch)
- Agentforce processed 3.2 trillion tokens through its LLM gateway [7]
That “half-a-billion ARR” datapoint is one reason several bullish commentaries dated Dec. 24 argue Salesforce is being overly discounted by the market despite real traction. Barron’s, for example, highlighted Agentforce’s accelerating ARR and suggested the stock could have substantial upside if growth firms and investor sentiment normalizes. [8]
The counterweight: Salesforce and the AI reliability debate heats up on Dec. 24
While bulls point to ARR and margins, one of the most widely circulated pieces of Dec. 24, 2025 coverage focuses on a different issue: reliability.
A Moneycontrol report dated Dec. 24 says Salesforce is rethinking heavy reliance on large language models after real-world reliability issues and is leaning into more predictable, “deterministic” automation within Agentforce. The report also includes a statement attributed to a Salesforce spokesperson emphasizing that LLMs alone aren’t sufficient to run business processes without being connected to accurate data, business logic, and governance. [9]
The article points to a practical example involving Vivint, where deterministic triggers were implemented to ensure steps (like sending customer satisfaction surveys) happen consistently—reducing the “randomness” that can come with purely generative workflows. [10]
This matters for Salesforce stock in 2026 because the market is not just pricing “AI features”—it’s pricing enterprise-grade outcomes. If Salesforce can demonstrate that Agentforce delivers repeatable ROI with the right guardrails, the AI story becomes less hype-driven and more “IT budget” driven.
M&A catalysts: Informatica integration and the new Qualified deal
Salesforce’s recent and pending acquisitions are tightly tied to its Agentforce narrative.
Informatica: “get your data right to get your AI right”
Salesforce announced it completed its acquisition of Informatica on Nov. 18, 2025, pitching the deal as foundational for governed, AI-ready enterprise data. The company explicitly framed Informatica’s catalog, integration, governance, privacy, and metadata capabilities as a way to help AI agents operate “safely” and “at scale.” [11]
In the press release, Marc Benioff is quoted making the strategic argument in plain language: AI without clean, connected data can produce “hallucination,” while Informatica helps turn fragmented data into usable context. [12]
Qualified: expanding “agentic” marketing
On Dec. 17, 2025, Salesforce announced a definitive agreement to acquire Qualified, describing it as a provider of agentic AI marketing solutions. Salesforce positioned the deal as a way to help customers deploy marketing agents that can engage inbound buyers and generate pipeline, with the transaction expected to close in Q1 of Salesforce’s fiscal 2027 (subject to approvals). [13]
For CRM stock watchers, the strategic logic is consistent: Salesforce is trying to broaden Agentforce beyond service/sales workflows into pipeline generation—a direct line to revenue impact that CFOs can measure.
Wall Street forecasts and price targets: what analysts are saying now
Despite the weak 2025 share performance, much of the current analyst tone remains constructive—though the spread between conservative and aggressive targets is wide.
A notable bullish call: Truist at $380
A Dec. 24 report highlighting Truist Securities notes Truist reiterated a Buy rating and maintained a $380 price target following a Salesforce Agentforce customer event—citing adoption signals and improved forward indicators. [14]
“Buy the stock” style commentary: Barron’s upside case
Barron’s Dec. 24 analysis argues Salesforce has been treated as an “AI loser,” but that improving margins and growing Agentforce traction could support a re-rating. The piece outlines an upside scenario that implies a move toward ~$390 if growth accelerates and valuation multiples normalize. [15]
Consensus ranges remain broad
Aggregators tracking analyst estimates show a wide distribution. One widely used market platform summary indicates analyst estimates can range from the low $200s to the mid $400s. [16]
The practical takeaway for SEO readers: Salesforce stock forecasts for 2026 are not “one number.” They cluster around a base case tied to revenue durability + margin trajectory, and they swing higher or lower depending on how real (and how repeatable) Agentforce monetization proves to be.
Quant-style forecasts: why “CRM stock prediction” results vary so much
If you search “Salesforce stock forecast,” you’ll also see algorithmic/technical prediction sites—often very different from Wall Street research.
For example, one model-based forecast updated Dec. 24, 2025 projected CRM could dip into the mid-$220s region in January 2026. [17]
These projections can be useful as a sentiment/volatility read, but they typically do not incorporate deep product-level inputs (Agentforce pricing, attach rates, renewals, Informatica synergies). Investors generally treat them as supplementary, not decisive.
Institutional and insider headlines surfacing on Dec. 24
Christmas Eve also brought the kind of incremental ownership headlines that frequently appear in market feeds:
- New or adjusted positions disclosed via 13F-related coverage (e.g., “new holdings,” “boosts holdings,” or stake reductions) [18]
- Routine Form 4 / equity award-related filings also appeared in the stream [19]
These items rarely move Salesforce stock on their own, but they can contribute to narrative momentum—especially when the market is already debating valuation.
Real-world adoption signals investors keep pointing to
A key question for CRM stock in 2026 is whether Agentforce expands from pilots to scaled production.
Recent enterprise and public-sector adoption headlines have helped the bull case. One example: Axios reported the IRS is rolling out Salesforce’s Agentforce across multiple divisions for tasks like summarization and search, emphasizing “guardrails” and human oversight. [20]
Stories like this matter because they address the exact skepticism weighing on the stock: not “can Agentforce demo well,” but “can it run safely and predictably at scale.”
What to watch next for Salesforce stock
As 2026 approaches, CRM investors are likely to focus on five measurable checkpoints:
- RPO and cRPO trajectory
Salesforce’s cRPO and RPO growth are core indicators for forward demand and renewal strength. [21] - Agentforce monetization quality
Watch not just deal counts, but ARR progression and expansion within the existing base (Salesforce noted meaningful expansion contribution in Q3). [22] - AI reliability and governance narrative
The Dec. 24 reporting around deterministic automation versus “open-ended” generative behavior highlights a real enterprise requirement: predictable outcomes. [23] - Informatica integration execution
Salesforce has framed Informatica as the data foundation for safe, scalable AI agents—execution will matter. [24] - Regulatory timing and strategic fit for the Qualified acquisition
The market will watch whether the deal closes on schedule and how quickly the product capabilities integrate into Agentforce marketing motions. [25]
Bottom line
On Dec. 24, 2025, Salesforce stock is being pulled by a classic late-cycle software setup: improving profitability and strong cash returns on one side, and a disruptive platform transition (agentic AI) on the other.
The bullish case—prominent in today’s commentary—leans on Agentforce momentum, rising margins, and the view that CRM’s valuation already prices in too much pessimism. [26]
The cautious case—also amplified today—argues that enterprise AI must be deterministic, governed, and data-connected to be trusted, and that Salesforce (like the industry) is still learning what works at scale. [27]
For Google News and Discover readers, the cleanest summary is this: 2026 will likely be a “proof year” for Salesforce’s Agentforce monetization model, and the stock’s multiple will follow the proof.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
References
1. www.financecharts.com, 2. www.barrons.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. www.financecharts.com, 5. investor.salesforce.com, 6. investor.salesforce.com, 7. investor.salesforce.com, 8. www.barrons.com, 9. www.moneycontrol.com, 10. www.moneycontrol.com, 11. www.salesforce.com, 12. www.salesforce.com, 13. www.salesforce.com, 14. www.insidermonkey.com, 15. www.barrons.com, 16. www.tradingview.com, 17. coincodex.com, 18. www.marketbeat.com, 19. www.stocktitan.net, 20. www.axios.com, 21. investor.salesforce.com, 22. investor.salesforce.com, 23. www.moneycontrol.com, 24. www.salesforce.com, 25. www.salesforce.com, 26. www.barrons.com, 27. www.moneycontrol.com
