Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

10 Jan 2026, 02:26 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) was up 1.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $267.83 and last traded at $266.0610. Approximately 5,904,796 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 7,024,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $262.90.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlighted five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM for 2026, arguing Salesforce has an attractive AI/cloud runway that could make it a top trade this year. MarketBeat: Five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM
Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool and 247WallStreet pieces both profile Salesforce as underappreciated on AI upside — suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in its “agentic AI” roadmap or potential enterprise expansion. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case. Fool: Should you forget Palantir and buy these 2 tech stocks? 247WallSt: 2 Stocks That Don’t Have Enough AI Priced In
Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — AmericanBankingNews reports an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” That supports investor confidence despite recent weakness. Salesforce receives average recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer has Salesforce on his radar, drawing attention to the company amid sector turmoil; coverage like this can add visibility but is not a direct catalyst. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Business
Neutral Sentiment: The Globe and Mail highlighted a Zacks feature that mentions Salesforce alongside Adobe as notable ideas — more media/analyst attention that reinforces the stock’s profile. Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Adobe and Salesforce
Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance flags that Salesforce’s AI revenue base is still small and that rising API costs could pressure margins — that raises the risk that the company’s margin story may be weaker than investors expect. Did Salesforce’s Small AI Revenue Base and Higher API Costs Just Recast Its Margin Story?
Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets emphasize CRM’s ~18–20% drop over the past year — headline pieces questioning whether the stock is still a hold add selling pressure and keep sentiment cautious. Salesforce Plunges 20% in a Year
Negative Sentiment: Short news blurbs (MSN/headlines) noting that CRM is sinking while broader markets gain amplify the perception of underperformance versus peers. Salesforce.com (CRM) stock sinks as market gains

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.74.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on CRM

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $250.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $243.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $580,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,567,632.20. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 155,034 shares of company stock worth $36,726,584 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Salesforce

(Get Free Report)

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.