New York, Jan 20, 2026, 18:06 EST — After-hours.
- Shares of Salesforce dropped roughly 3% Tuesday, hovering around $220 in after-hours trading.
- A broad tech selloff hit after President Donald Trump renewed tariff threats linked to Greenland.
- Investors are debating if the rapid rise of AI tools might cut into enterprise software demand.
Salesforce (CRM) shares dropped 3.1%, closing in on $220.07 during late after-hours trading Tuesday, having earlier dipped to $219.42. Trading volume hit roughly 13.0 million shares.
U.S. stocks tumbled after President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on several European nations until the U.S. secures permission to purchase Greenland, rattling investor confidence. The Dow dropped 1.76%, the S&P 500 slipped 2.06%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.39%. The VIX volatility index surged to 20.99. “The geopolitical risks … are re-emerging and are shifting market perceptions,” said Wasif Latif, chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners. (Reuters)
The blow hit a software sector already feeling the squeeze. A Morgan Stanley basket tracking software-as-a-service stocks has fallen 15% so far this year, Bloomberg data shows. Bryan Wong, portfolio manager at Osterweis Capital Management, said the Anthropic news “underlines how difficult it is to assess what growth can look like.” Meanwhile, Mizuho’s Jordan Klein noted that many investors see few near-term catalysts for a re-rating. (The Business Times)
Salesforce has dropped for eight sessions in a row, with Tuesday’s trading volume spiking well above its 50-day average, according to MarketWatch data. The stock now trades nearly 40% below its 52-week peak of $367.09, reached on Jan. 28, 2025. (MarketWatch)
Peers followed suit. Oracle slumped 5.9%, ServiceNow dipped 1.5%, and Microsoft edged down 1.1% amid the sell-off in big-cap tech.
Salesforce’s most recent major update came in early December, when it raised its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast to a range of $41.45 billion to $41.55 billion. The company also projected fourth-quarter revenue between $11.13 billion and $11.23 billion, factoring in contributions from its Informatica acquisition. CEO Marc Benioff described the outlook as reflecting a “powerful pipeline of future revenue,” driven by the rollout of Agentforce, a suite of AI agents designed to handle tasks with minimal human intervention. (Salesforce Investor Relations)
The company is doubling down on dealmaking tied to that strategy. In December, Salesforce announced a definitive agreement to acquire Qualified, calling it a provider of “agentic AI marketing solutions.” President and Chief Product Officer Steve Fisher noted that “the agentification of the enterprise continues to accelerate.” (Salesforce)
Still, the stock’s acting like a high-beta stand-in for tech sentiment. If tariff chatter turns into action — or customers hold back spending as they figure out which AI tools to adopt — software shares might stay under pressure, with volatility hitting both ways.
Salesforce’s next major event is earnings, set for Feb. 25, per Yahoo Finance’s calendar. (Yahoo Finance)
Traders will be focused on Thursday, Jan. 22, when EU leaders gather in Brussels. They’ll be looking for any indication that Washington might ease up on tariff threats—or escalate them—as February approaches.
