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Wajeeh Khan

How to Play Salesforce Stock Now as Shares Surge 20%+ on Earnings

Salesforce (CRM) shares are ripping higher on Thursday after the enterprise software giant posted blockbuster financials for its Q2 and raised its guidance for the full year.

CRM’s revenue climbed 11% on a year-over-year basis to $11.35 billion as net income soared 87% to $3.53 billion, both ahead of Street estimates.

Following the post-earnings rally, Salesforce stock is again hovering just 6% below its year-to-date high.

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Should You Invest in Salesforce Stock Today?

CRM shares look attractive to buy into the post-earnings strength primarily because the company’s quarterly print silences concerns of artificial intelligence (AI) disruption.

In fact, in a post-release appearance on Mad Money, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff touted strong demand for the Agentforce AI platform, actively defending the company against fears that AI startups will disrupt its software-as-a-service revenue model.

Options sentiment also remains bullish for the remainder of 2026.

According to Barchart, the put-call ratio on contracts expiring mid-December sits at 0.44 at the time of writing, with the upper price indicating potential for a continued rally to about $190 by the end of this year.

What Else Makes CRM Shares Attractive to Own

Note that Salesforce’s free cash flow came in at $1.1 billion, up a much better-than-expected 81%.

This helped management raise the full-year revenue guidance to $46.25 billion, implying 11% growth that handily exceeds Street estimates.

Other factors that feed right into the bullish thesis include CRM’s strategic investment in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence research lab that’s behind the Claude family of LLMs.

That investment brought $2.6 billion in mark-to-market gains for Salesforce in the second quarter.

What is also worth mentioning is that Salesforce shares also currently pay a small dividend yield of 0.7%, which makes them even more attractive as a long-term holding.

What’s the Consensus Rating on Salesforce?

Wall Street analysts also remain bullish as ever on Salesforce, fully convinced that it will rip higher from here over the next 12 months.

The consensus rating on CRM stock sits at “Strong Buy” currently, with price targets going as high as $475 indicating potential upside of a whopping 90% from here.

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