NEW YORK — Friday, December 26, 2025 (3:02 p.m. ET). U.S. stocks are trading in an unusually quiet, post‑Christmas session, with major indexes barely moving as many institutions wind down for year‑end. [1] In that thin tape, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) is edging higher, reflecting a market that’s still debating whether Salesforce’s AI push is becoming a durable revenue engine—or simply table stakes for a mature software leader.
Importantly for traders and investors: U.S. exchanges are open for a full regular session today (Dec. 26) (after the planned early close on Dec. 24), so CRM’s price action is happening in live, on‑exchange trading rather than holiday closure “dead time.” [2]
Salesforce stock price right now
As of 3:02 p.m. ET, Salesforce stock is trading around $265.70, up about 0.17% on the day, after touching an intraday high near $267.86 and a low around $264.36.
This kind of modest move is typical for the extremely light trading environment that’s defining today’s market—AP reported NYSE volume running at roughly about a third of normal earlier in the afternoon. [3]
Why Salesforce is still a big “AI credibility” stock into year‑end
Salesforce is no longer priced like a hypergrowth SaaS company. Instead, the stock’s near‑term narrative has centered on two questions:
- Can Salesforce prove its AI products are monetizing fast enough to offset the broader slowdown in enterprise software growth?
- Can it keep expanding margins and returning capital while investing heavily in agentic AI?
The company’s latest quarterly results gave bulls new material—especially around Agentforce and Data 360.
The latest earnings catalyst: Q3 FY2026 results and raised guidance
Salesforce reported fiscal Q3 2026 results (quarter ended Oct. 31, 2025) in early December and highlighted a mix of steady core performance plus accelerating AI‑related traction. [4] Key figures Salesforce emphasized included:
- Revenue: ~$10.3B (about 9% Y/Y)
- Subscription & support revenue: ~$9.7B (about 10% Y/Y)
- cRPO (a forward demand/backlog indicator):$29.4B, up 11% Y/Y
- RPO:$59.5B, up 12% Y/Y
- Non‑GAAP operating margin:35.5% in the quarter
- Free cash flow: ~$2.2B (up 22% Y/Y)
- Capital returns:$4.2B returned in the quarter (buybacks + dividends) [5]
Just as important for forward expectations, Salesforce raised full‑year FY2026 revenue guidance to $41.45B–$41.55B, and projected non‑GAAP operating margin of 34.1% for the year. [6]
That combination—mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit growth plus a 30%+ operating margin profile—is exactly what many long‑term investors want from a scaled software franchise, especially when the market is rewarding profitability discipline again.
Agentforce and Data 360: the numbers Salesforce wants investors to remember
Salesforce’s “show me” moment in 2025 has been proving that AI is not just a feature—it’s a paid product motion. In Q3, the company said:
- Agentforce + Data 360 ARR reached nearly $1.4B, up 114% Y/Y
- Agentforce ARR surpassed $500M, up 330% Y/Y
- The company has closed 18,500 Agentforce deals since launch, including 9,500 paid deals
- Agentforce processed 3.2 trillion tokens through Salesforce’s LLM gateway [7]
Reuters also highlighted a key point bulls keep making: Salesforce appears increasingly confident that AI pilots can convert into broader deployments—an issue that has weighed on enterprise AI monetization across the software sector. [8]
A major AI distribution lever: partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic
Salesforce has also been positioning Agentforce as a hub for multiple frontier models. Reuters reported that Salesforce expanded partnerships to integrate OpenAI’s GPT‑5 and Anthropic’s Claude into the Agentforce 360 platform, targeting both mainstream enterprise workflows and regulated verticals. [9]
For CRM stock investors, the strategic implication is straightforward: if customers want optionality across models (and governance around them), Salesforce wants to be the control plane where that spending lands.
Informatica is now part of the story—and the guidance math
One of the most consequential Salesforce headlines of late 2025 was the completion of its acquisition of Informatica (closed Nov. 18, 2025). Salesforce framed the deal as a way to strengthen data cataloging, governance, quality, metadata management, and MDM—foundational capabilities for “agentic AI” systems that have to be auditable and safe at scale. [10]
Salesforce’s own FY2026 outlook explicitly included an Informatica contribution—not just strategically, but in the guidance details (for example, a contribution to growth assumptions embedded in its revenue expectations). [11]
In plain English: Salesforce is telling the market that “trusted data” is the moat for enterprise AI agents—and it’s spending to own more of that stack.
The newest December headlines investors are watching
Even in a slow holiday week, Salesforce generated meaningful deal/news flow that can matter for CRM stock sentiment.
1) Salesforce agreed to buy Qualified (agentic AI marketing)
On Dec. 17, 2025, Salesforce announced a definitive agreement to acquire Qualified, a provider of agentic AI marketing solutions focused on converting inbound demand into pipeline—an area where AI can be measured in revenue outcomes (meetings set, opportunities created), not just productivity anecdotes. [12]
While terms weren’t the centerpiece of the announcement, the strategic fit is clear: Salesforce is expanding “Agentforce” beyond service and sales workflows deeper into top‑of‑funnel marketing and pipeline creation.
2) Novartis selects Agentforce Life Sciences
Also on Dec. 17, Salesforce said Novartis selected Agentforce Life Sciences for Customer Engagement, with plans for a global rollout over the next five years to unify engagement across marketing, sales, patient services, and other stakeholder teams. [13]
For investors, this is the kind of reference customer Salesforce wants: a large, global enterprise in a regulated industry—exactly where governed “agentic” workflows could command premium pricing.
3) A real‑world public sector use case: IRS deployment (earlier headline, still relevant)
Axios reported that the IRS is rolling out Agentforce across multiple divisions for tasks like case summarization and search, emphasizing guardrails and human review rather than fully automated decisioning. [14]
Whether or not this moves near‑term revenue, public‑sector deployments can strengthen Salesforce’s “credible at scale” narrative—especially when AI buyers are scrutinizing security and compliance.
Analyst forecasts and price targets: bullish overall, but not unanimous
Despite Salesforce’s uneven 2025 stock performance earlier in the year, analyst sentiment has leaned broadly constructive after the December earnings report and AI traction data.
The bullish camp: “AI is underappreciated, valuation too skeptical”
Investopedia summarized a notably optimistic read‑through from major banks:
- Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight stance and has cited targets up to $405 (with subsequent notes adjusting targets but maintaining the constructive view). [15]
- Bank of America reiterated a Buy with a $305 target in a prior note, pointing to backlog/cRPO signals as supportive of demand. [16]
- Jefferies has maintained a Buy rating with a $375 target in analyst updates. [17]
- BTIG initiated coverage with a Buy and a $335 target, explicitly calling out Agentforce momentum as undervalued. [18]
Reuters also quoted Rebecca Wettemann, who pointed to Salesforce’s confidence in converting AI pilots into future sales—an important point given the market’s concern about AI ROI. [19]
The cautious camp: “AI disruption risk and pay-for-AI resistance”
Skeptics argue that the AI era could pressure legacy SaaS pricing or shift buyer expectations. A Barron’s summary of a KeyBanc CIO survey suggested that willingness to pay for AI features from a CRM provider may be limited—and that Microsoft is perceived as a bigger beneficiary of AI budgets—though Salesforce remains a leading CRM vendor. [20]
This “paying for AI vs. expecting it bundled” debate is central to CRM stock valuation: Salesforce needs to prove AI is net new ARR, not just a defensive feature that raises costs.
What investors should watch into the close—and before the next session
Because the market is open right now and liquidity is thin, the practical question for many investors is not “What happened today?” but “What could change sentiment next?”
Here are the most actionable items to track:
- Year‑end liquidity effects (don’t over-interpret small moves). In low volume, price swings can look meaningful without representing a true change in institutional conviction. [21]
- Deal integration updates (Informatica + Qualified). Informatica is already closed; Qualified is pending. Investors will look for signals on integration timeline, cross‑sell strategy, and whether these deals accelerate measurable pipeline and bookings. [22]
- Agentforce monetization proof points. Watch for continued expansion in paid Agentforce deals, enterprise references like Novartis, and evidence that deployments move from pilot to production at scale. [23]
- Capital return pace. Salesforce has leaned into buybacks and dividends; investors often reward consistency here, especially when growth is single‑digit. [24]
- Next earnings timing (not yet confirmed). Market calendars are currently pointing to late February 2026 for the next earnings window, but investors should treat that as an estimate until Salesforce confirms. [25]
A quick note for dividend-focused investors
Salesforce declared a $0.416/share quarterly dividend payable Jan. 8, 2026 to shareholders of record on Dec. 18, 2025. [26] Since the record date has already passed, investors buying CRM now should view that January payment as largely “already spoken for” by holders of record.
The bottom line on CRM stock right now
In today’s calm, post‑holiday market, Salesforce stock is trading with a “wait for the next data point” tone—up slightly, but not breaking out. [27]
The near‑term bull case rests on a simple proposition: Agentforce and Data 360 are becoming large enough (and growing fast enough) to re‑accelerate perception of Salesforce’s growth, while Informatica strengthens the data trust layer that enterprise AI agents require. [28]
The bear case is equally simple: enterprises may resist paying extra for AI in CRM, and the competitive landscape (especially Microsoft‑anchored ecosystems) could capture a larger share of incremental AI budgets. [29]
For investors heading into the next session, the most important signal to watch isn’t today’s tiny move—it’s whether Salesforce keeps converting high‑profile AI announcements into the metrics that ultimately matter for CRM stock: bookings, backlog, and durable ARR expansion. [30]
References
1. apnews.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. apnews.com, 4. investor.salesforce.com, 5. investor.salesforce.com, 6. investor.salesforce.com, 7. investor.salesforce.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.salesforce.com, 11. investor.salesforce.com, 12. www.salesforce.com, 13. investor.salesforce.com, 14. www.axios.com, 15. www.investopedia.com, 16. www.tipranks.com, 17. www.marketscreener.com, 18. www.investing.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.barrons.com, 21. apnews.com, 22. www.salesforce.com, 23. investor.salesforce.com, 24. investor.salesforce.com, 25. public.com, 26. investor.salesforce.com, 27. apnews.com, 28. investor.salesforce.com, 29. www.barrons.com, 30. investor.salesforce.com
