New York, February 9, 2026, 18:05 (EST) — After-hours
- Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) gained 1.5% in after-hours moves, with software stocks in general catching a bid.
- Heroku plans to move to a “sustaining engineering” model, dropping new enterprise account contracts in the process.
- Salesforce reports earnings Feb. 25; U.S. jobs numbers and CPI are also on the schedule this week.
Salesforce, Inc. jumped 1.5%, landing at $194.03 in after-hours action Monday. Earlier, shares had ranged from $185.79 to $195.12. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF climbed 3.1%.
Investors are taking another look at software stocks after the recent dip reignited an old concern: rapid advances in artificial intelligence might disrupt the sector’s user-based subscription setup. Companies that make their money charging per seat could be at risk. Meanwhile, options markets are signaling expectations for sharper moves in software shares, Reuters reported. 1
Salesforce stands out among major U.S. enterprise software names, its shares often acting as a kind of high-beta barometer for shifting “AI disruption” worries in the sector—sometimes cooling off, sometimes simply catching its breath.
Tech stocks clawed back earlier declines, helping push U.S. equities higher Monday. The S&P 500 added 0.47%, Nasdaq rose 0.90%. The Dow barely budged. Oracle surged close to 10% following an upgrade from D.A. Davidson, boosting other software names. 2
Heroku, the Salesforce-backed PaaS popular with developers who want to skip server management, is shifting gears to a “sustaining engineering” approach—meaning it’s focusing on reliability and support instead of rolling out fresh features. Chief product officer Nitin T. Bhat spelled it out in a Feb. 6 post: “Enterprise Account contracts will no longer be offered to new customers.” For now, Bhat said, current Heroku users won’t see any changes. 3
InfoWorld spoke with analysts who see Salesforce’s shift as a signal: the company is dialing down focus here, redirecting effort into AI-based offerings. Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research, described sustaining engineering as just “holding pattern” work now. And Chandrika Dutt, research director at Avasant, flagged potential long-term platform risk for customers hoping to start new projects. 4
Salesforce made waves during the Super Bowl thanks to a splashy $1 million online treasure hunt with YouTube’s MrBeast, all tied to the company’s commercial. Some users hit a snag with delayed registration emails—Salesforce blamed the “overwhelming response” and said it was working with big email providers. A spokesperson later clarified only a small group was affected and the issue is fixed. CEO Marc Benioff put the campaign’s landing page traffic at more than 53 million visitors. Loz Horner, an ad executive at Lucky Generals, pointed out that a crash like this can actually stoke demand, making it feel more appealing to join in. 5
Still, Salesforce’s Heroku move puts a spotlight back on an old worry for investors—how does the company hold onto developers, especially as it doubles down on AI? Something’s got to take a back seat.
Salesforce plans to post its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 numbers on Feb. 25, after the bell. 6
First up, U.S. jobs data drops on Feb. 11 at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the CPI following two days later at the same hour. Both numbers could jolt rate bets. 7
For CRM, eyes turn to Feb. 25. That’s when the company drops its results and guidance—and investors will be hunting for any signal that customers are still spending, as AI continues to pressure the traditional software playbook.
