Salesforce (CRM) stock slides before the bell as soft FY27 outlook clashes with $50B buyback

26 February 2026

New York, Feb 26, 2026, 04:49 (EST) — Premarket

Salesforce slipped roughly 4% before the bell, with its outlook coming in short of certain forecasts.
The company pointed to hefty AI spending, despite corporate software budgets remaining squeezed.
Early trading stayed choppy, even after the company unveiled a $50 billion buyback and bumped up its dividend.

Salesforce shares slipped roughly 4% to $184.14 before the bell Thursday. The stock had closed Wednesday at $191.75, up 3.4%.

This shift comes just as the stock—often seen as a sort of barometer for U.S. software sentiment—faces a key question: will AI “agents” kick off a wave of new sales, or are they just poking holes in the subscription business?

Salesforce is projecting fiscal 2027 revenue between $45.80 billion and $46.20 billion, landing just under the $46.06 billion consensus according to LSEG data, Reuters said. “Salesforce needs to show it is continuing to translate early AI traction into broader enterprise adoption,” Valoir CEO Rebecca Wettemann told Reuters. Reuters

Leaning hard on AI numbers and cash returns, the company’s results package highlighted Agentforce annual recurring revenue (ARR) reaching $800 million, a 169% jump from a year ago. Remaining performance obligation (RPO) — essentially revenue waiting to be recognized — climbed to $72.4 billion. Salesforce greenlit a fresh $50 billion buyback and bumped up its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share.

Salesforce rolled out “Agentic Work Units” to count tasks handled by AI agents, saying the tally has hit 2.4 billion to date. The company is pitching this as a more transparent metric for investors than the “tokens” typically tracked by large language models when they process text.

The sector’s taken a beating lately. Software names have slumped, caught up in worries that AI could erode their pricing power, despite companies scrambling to inject AI into their offerings. “Software stocks … are just massively oversold,” said Dennis Dick, strategist at Stock Trader Network, in comments to Reuters. Reuters

Options traders were set for sharp action going into the results. According to Investopedia, contracts were pricing in a potential 9% move for Salesforce—up or down—by the end of the week.

The risk is still there. Customers dragging their feet on new projects, or AI features turning out tougher to turn into cash than management hopes—if either plays out, buybacks have their limits. Miss guidance, and the hangover can last.

Salesforce finds itself up against heavyweights like Microsoft and Oracle as it hunts for enterprise business, but the landscape keeps shifting—AI-focused upstarts are forcing buyers to rethink both capabilities and pricing. Investors are left weighing whether this marks a temporary reset or signals a deeper downturn.

Investors are bracing for Robin Washington’s upcoming conversation with Joe Inzerillo at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 3. But first comes Friday’s U.S. producer price index for January, set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET—a figure with the potential to shake up rate expectations and tech stock valuations.

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Michał Rogucki is a senior markets reporter at TS2.tech. His coverage ranges from stocks and technology to economic developments affecting global markets. He graduated from Humboldt University of Berlin and worked in investment research and market analysis before becoming a financial journalist.

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