New York, Feb 26, 2026, 10:23 EST — Regular session
- Salesforce shares (CRM) climbed roughly 2.5% in morning trading, shaking off some early turbulence following the company’s outlook.
- The company bumped its repurchase authorization up to $50 billion, and also increased its quarterly dividend.
- Investors are eyeing whether “agentic” AI products will kickstart faster growth heading into fiscal 2027.
Salesforce climbed roughly 2.5% to $196.50 in early Thursday trading, following a previous close of $191.75.
Shares rebounded after a sharp drop late Wednesday, triggered when the company projected fiscal 2027 revenue between $45.80 billion and $46.20 billion—just shy of the $46.06 billion consensus from analysts polled by LSEG. “The question is: is AI going to be additive, or is it going to eat SaaS?” said Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of Valoir. Reuters
Salesforce posted a 12% gain in fourth-quarter revenue, hitting $11.2 billion, with remaining performance obligation reaching $72.4 billion. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, the company projected revenue between $11.03 billion and $11.08 billion. The board bumped up its share repurchase authorization to $50 billion and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share.
Salesforce has gone all-in on so-called “agentic” AI — software that acts, not just responds. CEO Marc Benioff is pitching the company as the “operating system for the Agentic Enterprise.” According to Salesforce, Agentforce annual recurring revenue reached $800 million, with 29,000 Agentforce deals closed since launch. Salesforce
Annual recurring revenue, or ARR, refers to subscription revenue projected over a year. On the AI front, tokens—essentially bits of text processed by the system—serve as a measure of usage. Salesforce, for its part, tracks both token consumption and so-called “agentic work units” to estimate how much work its AI features are handling.
Brokerages split on the news. RBC Capital slashed its price target for the stock to $210 from $290, sticking with a Sector Perform rating. The firm pointed to a guidance reset, though management did roll out a bigger capital-return plan.
Salesforce isn’t the only one under the microscope—investors are now asking if the rise of AI is eroding pricing power for seat-based software models all over enterprise tech, covering everything from customer service platforms to workflow automation.
Still, everything rides on execution here. Should customers pump the brakes on purchases after trying out AI agents—or if the Informatica integration and related expenses drag on—then even a bigger buyback and higher dividend might not do much to shore up sentiment.
Now, traders turn their attention to what Benioff says on TBPN at 4:30 p.m. ET—AI-driven bookings and organic growth into the back half of fiscal 2027 are top of mind. The company’s own “earnings show” is slated for 5:00 p.m. ET, just before Friday’s Agentforce platform webinar. businesswire.com
