Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Releases Q1 2027 Earnings Guidance

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) issued an update on its first quarter 2027 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.110-3.130 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.670. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.0 billion-$11.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.0 billion. Salesforce also updated its FY 2027 guidance to 13.110-13.190 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, January 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.56.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $6.77 on Wednesday, reaching $192.19. The company had a trading volume of 21,330,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,133,844. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $174.57 and a fifty-two week high of $313.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $227.77 and its 200 day moving average is $239.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $180.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised near‑term guidance — Salesforce updated Q1 FY2027 EPS guidance to $3.110–$3.130 (well above the Street) and also lifted FY2027 EPS guidance to $13.110–$13.190, signaling stronger profitability expectations that should support future earnings revisions.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on adjusted EPS and solid margins — The company reported an adjusted Q4 EPS beat and described a record quarter, which supports the view that operating leverage and AI monetization (Agentforce) can drive margin expansion. Salesforce tops Q4 estimates but softer revenue guidance pressures shares
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback announced — Management committed to a major share repurchase program, which is typically supportive for EPS per share and shareholder returns. Salesforce commits $50 billion for new buybacks as revenue guidance falls short
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly revenue roughly in line but mixed reads — Q4 revenue was about $11.2B (mid‑$11B range); some outlets call it slightly below some consensus figures while others say it was roughly in line — the revenue trend is steady but not accelerating. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing AI strategy and partnerships — Salesforce is expanding Agentforce and AI integrations (acquisitions and partnerships) that could boost long‑term monetization, but investors remain watchful for concrete revenue contribution timelines. Salesforce AI deals test investor patience
• Negative Sentiment: After‑hours sell‑off on guidance/revenue concerns — Despite the EPS beat and stronger EPS guidance, the market focused on the full‑year revenue outlook and AI disruption risk, sending shares lower after the print. Salesforce stock falls on Q4 2026 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reactions and downgrades added pressure — Some analysts cut targets or expressed caution (and the stock hit a new 52‑week low in recent sessions), amplifying downside moves despite selective bullish calls from other shops. Salesforce Shares Down Following Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: High insider selling flagged by data providers — Reports of large insider sales drew attention and can weigh on sentiment even when fundamentals look mixed. Insider trading and institutional moves

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,552,896,000 after buying an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 285.4% during the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $589,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,772,875 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $734,562,000 after purchasing an additional 953,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 266.6% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 840,178 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $229,108,000 after buying an additional 611,001 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Salesforce

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.