Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) heads into Monday’s U.S. trading session with fresh earnings momentum, a loud new AI narrative, and a flurry of institutional filings hitting the tape this morning. Here’s what traders and long‑term investors need to know about Salesforce stock before the market opens on December 8, 2025.
All prices and data in this article are as of early pre‑market trading on December 8, 2025 and may change as the session unfolds. This is not investment advice.
1. Salesforce stock price today: pre‑market snapshot and recent performance
- Pre‑market move: As of around 6:37 a.m. EST, Salesforce is trading at $260.36 in pre‑market, down about 0.1% from Friday’s close of $260.57. [1]
- Friday’s reaction: On December 5, shares jumped roughly 5.3% after the company’s AI‑driven earnings beat and outlook raise, closing near the top of the day’s $249.50–$261.88 range. [2]
- 52‑week range & volatility: CRM currently trades within a 52‑week range of $221.96 to $367.15, with a beta around 1.25, highlighting above‑market volatility. [3]
- Valuation check: Using MarketBeat and other data, Salesforce sports:
- Market cap: roughly $244–248 billion
- Trailing P/E: about 35–38x earnings
- PEG ratio: ~2.0 on some models, implying a premium to its growth outlook. [4]
Despite last week’s surge, Salesforce has been a laggard. Zacks notes that over the past 12 months, Salesforce shares are down about 28.7%, versus a +2.9% gain for the broader Zacks Computer–Software industry. [5] Other coverage has repeatedly highlighted CRM as one of the “Dogs of the Dow”—among the weakest performers in the Dow 30 this year—even after the post‑earnings bounce. [6]
Bottom line for price action:
Going into the bell, CRM is holding most of Friday’s earnings‑driven gains but not extending them pre‑market. The stock is trading above both its 50‑day moving average (~$243) and 200‑day (~$252), key levels bulls will try to defend if volatility picks up. [7]
2. The earnings beat behind the move
Salesforce’s latest results (reported December 3, 2025, for its fiscal Q3 2026) are still the primary catalyst:
- EPS beat: Non‑GAAP EPS of $3.25 vs consensus around $2.86. [8]
- Revenue: Approximately $10.26–$10.3 billion, slightly ahead of expectations near $10.27 billion, and up 8.6–9.1% year over year. [9]
- Segment strength: Subscription and support revenue grew roughly 10% year‑on‑year, continuing to dominate the top line. [10]
- Profitability:
Guidance upgrade
Salesforce also raised its full‑year fiscal 2026 outlook:
- FY26 revenue: New forecast of $41.45–$41.55 billion vs a prior range of $41.1–$41.3 billion. [13]
- Q4 FY26 outlook:
- EPS: $3.02–$3.04
- Revenue: $11.13–$11.23 billion. [14]
In other words, Salesforce is signalling high‑single‑digit revenue growth with outsized margin expansion—a combination that has helped power last week’s rally.
Dividend reminder
Salesforce also reaffirmed its relatively new dividend program:
- Quarterly dividend:$0.416 per share, payable January 8 to shareholders of record on December 18, implying a yield around 0.6% and a payout ratio near 22%. [15]
It’s not a high‑yield story, but the dividend reinforces Salesforce’s evolution into a more mature, cash‑generative software giant.
3. The AI story: why Agentforce is suddenly center stage
If earnings explain the move, AI explains the excitement.
Agentforce and Data Cloud momentum
Salesforce’s AI narrative is built around two pillars:
- Agentforce – its “agentic AI” platform for automated, conversational customer service and sales.
- Data Cloud / Data 360 – the data layer that feeds those agents.
According to management commentary and recent coverage:
- Agentforce’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) is approaching $1.4 billion, growing at about 114% year over year, with more than 9,500 paid Agentforce deals and roughly 3.2 trillion tokens processed through its AI engine. [16]
- Finviz notes that in one recent week, Agentforce closed over 200 deals, mostly as add‑ons to Service Cloud, while Data Cloud was included in 8 of Salesforce’s top 10 deals of the quarter. [17]
- To meet demand, Salesforce is hiring about 1,400 additional account executives globally, a clear signal that management sees sustained AI‑driven growth. [18]
Jim Cramer’s “holy grail” soundbite
On CNBC’s Mad Money and in a widely shared write‑up overnight, Jim Cramer raved about Salesforce’s quarter and Agentforce. He described the latest results as a “lights out” quarter and argued that Salesforce may end up dominating the agentic AI space, calling Agentforce the “holy grail” for customer service. [19]
Cramer’s key points, paraphrased:
- Agentforce can answer calls, instantly access customer history, and provide consistent support at a lower cost than human agents.
- Major enterprises like Costco and CVS are reportedly early adopters and are said to be pleased with the technology. [20]
- He cited an Agentforce revenue run rate of around $500 million already, suggesting that the product line could “redefine” Salesforce over the next 12–18 months if adoption continues at this pace. [21]
Beyond TV hype, Zacks and other research teams highlight Salesforce’s expansion of generative AI offerings as a core rationale for including CRM among their top coverage names and AI watchlists. [22]
Takeaway:
Heading into today’s session, Agentforce is the story. The market is debating whether Salesforce’s AI platform is simply a nice incremental growth driver or a multi‑year transformation catalyst worth paying a premium multiple for.
4. Fresh Wall Street calls: “Moderate Buy” with lower—but still lofty—targets
Consensus snapshot
Across major datasets:
- Around 29 analysts rate Salesforce a Buy, 12 rate it Hold, and 1 rates it Sell, for an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus. [23]
- MarketBeat and GuruFocus data put the average 12‑month price target in the $325–326 range, implying roughly 25–30% upside from the current pre‑market level. [24]
- GuruFocus reports a high Street target near $442 and a low around $221, underscoring just how wide the uncertainty band is. [25]
Truist: PT cut to $380, still a Buy
In a detailed note referenced overnight:
- Truist lowered its Salesforce price target from $400 to $380 while reiterating a Buy rating.
- The firm cited:
- Strong Q3 performance
- Solid net‑new Annual Order Value (AOV) growth and improving pipeline visibility
- Confidence that Salesforce can deliver improving double‑digit organic subscription and support revenue growth over the next 12–18 months
- The lower target mainly reflects compressed sector valuations, not company‑specific weakness, and Truist highlights Agentforce and Data Cloud as key AI growth drivers. [26]
Citizens, BMO and others: cautious optimism
A recent GuruFocus round‑up of analyst activity shows a pattern: ratings mostly positive, price targets nudging down. [27]
- Citizens (Patrick Walravens) maintains a “Market Outperform” rating but cut its target from $430 to $405 last week. [28]
- Oppenheimer trimmed its target from $315 to $300 while staying Outperform. [29]
- Citigroup is more cautious with a “Neutral” rating and a reduced target of $253. [30]
- Mizuho remains Outperform but lowered its target from $350 to $340. [31]
Zacks’ latest research daily backs up this mixed tone: it notes Salesforce’s underperformance vs peers, intense competition, currency headwinds and macro‑driven IT budget softness, even as it acknowledges strong digital‑transformation demand, the strategic Slack acquisition, and the promise of generative AI offerings. [32]
Net message from Wall Street:
- Analysts largely agree Salesforce is high quality with improving profitability.
- They also broadly agree that growth has slowed to high‑single‑digit/low‑double‑digit territory, and that the stock’s valuation leaves less room for error.
5. Hedge funds, Temasek and insider signals
New 13F filings and ownership headlines this morning give a nuanced picture of how big money is positioning around Salesforce.
Temasek steps in; other big holders add
- Temasek Holdings Private Ltd, Singapore’s sovereign investment firm, disclosed a new stake of 46,773 Salesforce shares, worth about $12.76 million in Q2. [33]
- MarketBeat’s breakdown shows other institutions boosting their holdings:
- Atalanta Sosnoff Capital increased its stake to over 206,000 shares.
- Achmea Investment Management and Amundi both added meaningfully, with Amundi now owning more than 7.7 million CRM shares (~$2.1 billion). [34]
- In total, about 80.4% of Salesforce’s float is held by hedge funds and other institutions, reflecting strong institutional sponsorship. [35]
Profit‑taking: Winslow Capital and Vega trim positions
Two separate MarketBeat items this morning highlight notable reductions:
- Winslow Capital Management slashed its Salesforce position by 99.9%, selling 724,107 shares and leaving just 944 shares (about $257,000) on the books. [36]
- Vega Investment Solutions cut its stake by 35.3%, selling nearly 10,000 shares and leaving 18,297 shares (about $4.99 million), though CRM still ranks among its larger holdings. [37]
These moves suggest some active managers locking in gains or reallocating after the recent rally, even as long‑only giants and sovereign funds are still willing to buy.
Insider activity: net selling, with one notable buy
MarketBeat’s Temasek piece also summarizes recent insider trades: [38]
- CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares at about $241.32, a tiny fraction of his ~11.9 million‑share stake.
- Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares at roughly $254.66, increasing his holdings by more than 800%.
- Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold about 182,000 Salesforce shares worth roughly $43.3 million.
- Overall insider ownership stands near 3%.
For traders, the takeaway is mixed: heavy institutional ownership and a new Temasek stake are supportive, but ongoing insider selling and some major funds exiting add a note of caution.
6. Quality and valuation: what the quant screens are saying
A new ChartMill “Caviar Cruise” quality investing report—updated today—puts Salesforce under a strict quality lens and finds plenty to like: [39]
- 5‑year revenue CAGR: about 9.4%.
- 5‑year EBIT CAGR: roughly 75%, indicating margins have expanded far faster than sales.
- ROIC (excluding cash, goodwill and intangibles): an eye‑catching ~114%, suggesting very efficient core capital use.
- Debt to free cash flow: around 0.65, implying Salesforce could theoretically pay off its debt in under a year of current FCF.
- Profit quality: a 5‑year average FCF/net income ratio well above 100%, boosted by non‑cash charges but still signalling strong cash conversion.
ChartMill assigns Salesforce: [40]
- Profitability score: 8/10
- Financial strength: 6/10
- Growth score: 6/10
- Valuation score: 5/10
In plain English: high‑quality, cash‑rich, modestly growing, not obviously cheap.
GuruFocus’ valuation metrics line up with that view, showing a trailing P/E near the high‑30s and a PEG ratio under 1 on some growth assumptions, suggesting the stock may be reasonably valued if AI‑driven growth and margin gains persist. [41]
7. Short‑term technicals and independent forecasts
For traders focused on the next few sessions rather than the next few years, a few additional data points stand out:
- Day range and moving averages: Friday’s range ($249.50–$261.88) plus the currently rising 50‑day (~$243) and 200‑day (~$252) moving averages give some near‑term support zones to watch on any pullback. [42]
- Volatility: A rolling one‑year beta near 1.27 puts CRM firmly in the “volatile large‑cap tech” bucket. A StockStory piece over the weekend flagged Salesforce among “3 Volatile Stocks with Warning Signs,” citing slowing ARR growth (~9.1% year‑over‑year) and an expected ~11.9% sales growth next year—solid, but lower than many high‑multiple tech peers. [43]
Quant forecast: fair opening price
Quant site StockInvest.us projects a “fair opening price” of about $257.32 for December 8, roughly 1.25% below Friday’s close, and labels insider sentiment as negative, reflecting recent selling. [44]
No algorithmic model is perfect, but this aligns with the modest pre‑market softness we’re seeing and reinforces the idea that the market may digest Friday’s spike rather than chase it aggressively at the open.
8. Key risks and questions heading into today’s session
Even with the AI optimism and quality credentials, several questions will hang over CRM as trading begins:
- Can AI growth offset slowing core growth?
Revenue growth in the high single digits is healthy for a $200+ billion company, but it is far from hyper‑growth. The bull case depends on Agentforce, Data Cloud and broader generative AI products re‑accelerating the top line without sacrificing margins. [45] - Is the valuation baking in too much AI success?
A mid‑30s P/E for a company growing revenue <15% per year requires confidence that margin expansion and AI‑driven upsell will continue. If enterprise AI adoption is slower than expected, valuation compression is a real risk. [46] - Macro and IT budget headwinds:
Zacks and others note that softening IT spending, currency movements and competition (notably from Microsoft, Oracle and smaller cloud players) remain overhangs. [47] - Ownership concentration and insider selling:
With ~80% institutional ownership, Salesforce is heavily owned by professional money. That’s a vote of confidence, but it also means crowded positioning and the risk of sharp moves if sentiment flips. Recent insider selling adds to the perception that management is comfortable taking some chips off the table at current levels. [48] - Dow catch‑up or continued laggard?
Coverage from Seeking Alpha and Barchart has repeatedly highlighted that Salesforce is still one of the weakest Dow components year‑to‑date, even after last week’s rally. The open question: is this the start of a catch‑up trade, or just a short‑term relief rally in a long‑term laggard? [49]
9. What to watch at the opening bell
For traders and investors watching Salesforce today, these are the key levels and narratives to track as the market opens:
- Price relative to Friday’s high (~$262):
A strong open above last week’s high would signal follow‑through buying and continued enthusiasm for the AI story. Failure to hold the $255–$260 area could indicate the rally is being used as a liquidity event to sell into strength. - Reactions to new fund flows:
Watch for commentary around Temasek’s new stake versus Winslow and Vega’s reductions. If the market frames the story as “smart money rotating in, fast money rotating out,” volatility could remain elevated. [50] - Sentiment around Agentforce:
Analyst notes and financial TV segments are zeroed in on Agentforce after Jim Cramer’s “holy grail” praise. Any new customer wins, ARR disclosures or use‑case stories could quickly move the stock in either direction as investors refine their AI expectations. [51] - Macro backdrop:
With markets focused on upcoming Fed decisions and economic data, high‑multiple software names tend to be sensitive to interest‑rate expectations and risk sentiment. A risk‑off tone could pressure CRM regardless of company‑specific news. [52]
Final thoughts
Heading into the December 8, 2025 open, Salesforce is not a forgotten cloud name anymore:
- It’s a high‑quality, cash‑rich software leader that just posted strong earnings and margin expansion.
- It has a compelling AI story in Agentforce and Data Cloud that’s finally resonating with investors and commentators.
- But it’s also a still‑expensive Dow laggard with slower core growth, heavy institutional ownership, and mixed signals from insiders and some cautious analysts.
For short‑term traders, the key question this morning is whether Friday’s breakout can hold. For long‑term investors, the bigger question is whether Salesforce’s AI platform truly becomes the “holy grail” that justifies paying a premium for a slower‑growing, but increasingly profitable, enterprise software giant.
As always, consider your risk tolerance, time horizon and overall portfolio before making any decisions, and treat this article as information, not a personalized recommendation.
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