Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) shares were climbing in on Wednesday, despite the company reporting an earnings miss in the third quarter.
The company reported its results amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways.
Stifel On Salesforce
Analyst J. Parker Lane reiterated a Buy rating while raising the price target from $390 to $425.
Salesforce reported current RPOs (remaining performance obligations) of $26.4 billion, representing 10% year-on-year growth and beating consensus estimate of $26.1 billion, Lane said in a note. The company's cRPO growth remains in double-digits for the second consecutive quarter, despite Agentforce and Data Cloud not contributing meaningfully as of now, he added.
"With the story now centered around the Agentforce/AI opportunity, we believe management’s disclosure of 200 Agentforce deals (GA late in the quarter) and a significant pipeline served as solid initial proof-points in the company’s ability to capture AI workloads and its positioning relative to enterprise competitors," the analyst wrote.
Salesforce is "the best way to play AI within our coverage universe," he further stated.
RBC Capital Markets On Salesforce
Analyst Rishi Jaluria maintained an Outperform rating while lifting the price target from $300 to $420.
Salesforce's third-quarter results were "solid," sending shares higher by 11% in the after-hours session on Tuesday, Jaluria said. "Subscription revenue growth stabilized, and cRPO growth was solid, remaining in double-digits," he added.
The company raised the midpoint of its fourth-quarter guidance for total revenue by around $50 million, while stating that its acquisition of Own closed at the end of the quarter, the analyst stated. "While Agentforce updates were encouraging, we question if expectations are getting ahead of NTM (next twelve months) reality," he further wrote.
JPMorgan On Salesforce
Analyst Mark Murphy reaffirmed an Overweight rating while raising the price target from $340 to $380.
Salesforce's earnings slightly missed expectations due to strategic investments, Murphy said. Total revenue came in at $9,444 million, beating Street estimates of $9,351 million, he added.
Although the company's fourth-quarter revenue guidance came in below consensus, this was "overshadowed by successful attainment or slight upside across other metrics" in the third quarter, including cRPO, margins, and cash flows, the analyst stated.
Salesforce was expected to be "ultra-bullish" about Agentforce during its earnings call and the company "actually surpassed that expectation," he further wrote.
BMO Capital Markets On Salesforce
Analyst Keith Bachman reiterated an Outperform rating while lifting the price target from $385 to $425.
Salesforce delivered strong quarterly results and guided to cRPO in-line with estimates, Bachman said. The company closed 200 paying Agentforce deals post general availability (GA) in the last week of the quarter, he added.
"In addition, management stated that 25% of the F100 have adopted Data Cloud, though we believe a very small percent of Salesforce installed base has adopted to date," the analyst wrote. He stated, however, that the adoption of Data Cloud could be "a source of friction" in the adoption of Agentforce.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
Oppenheimer On Salesforce
Analyst Brian Schwartz maintained an Outperform rating while raising the price target from $385 to $415.
Salesforce achieved operating margins of 33.1%, higher than the consensus by 80 basis points (bps), Schwartz said. Pro forma earnings of $2.41 per share came in three cents below the consensus, driven by strategic investments, excluding which the figure would have come in at $2.59 per share, he added.
This was another quarter of double-digit cRPO billings growth and "this positive trend looks durable," as software spending trends are likely to normalize as macro uncertainties ease and the "rising importance of IT and AI in driving growth and efficiencies with the enterprise," the analyst wrote.
"This development positions CRM to reaccelerate top-line revenue growth, as soon as F2Q:26," he further stated.
Needham On Salesforce
Analyst Scott Berg reaffirmed a Buy rating while lifting the price target from $345 to $375.
Salesforce reported total revenue growth of 8.3% year-on-year, with subscription revenue growth of 9.1%, "driven by resilience in core Clouds," Berg said. Professional services revenue contracted by 2.4%, but came in above expectations, he added.
"While not a material contributor to financial results yet, Salesforce noted that the company closed over 200 Agentforce deals during 3Q in the one week the product was available during the quarter, with notable brands utilizing it already," the analyst wrote.
Management raised its revenue guidance for the full year to a range of $37.8 billion to $38.0 billion, from its prior projection of $37.7 billion to $38.0 billion, he added.
Piper Sandler On Salesforce
Analyst Brent Bracelin reiterated an Overweight rating while raising the price target from $325 to $395.
Salesforce's revenue growth slowed to 7%-8% on "more of the same" challenges that it faced through the year, including "macro pressures, internal budgetary battles, AI experimentation and evaluation, and longer sales cycles," Bracelin said.
"F2026 is shaping up to be an important transitional year for CRM as it executes on laying the groundwork to bring AI agents to the enterprise masses with new pricing and packaging offerings (Agentforce, Foundations, Data Cloud, etc.) that could better position the company for a F2027 rebound," the analyst wrote.
There is downside risk to the current consensus estimate for revenue growth of 9% for that year, he added.
BofA Securities On Salesforce
Analyst Brad Sills maintained a Buy rating while raising the price target from $390 to $440.
The third-quarter results suggest that Salesforce is "leading the way in agentic AI cycle with Agentforce," Sills said. Management pipeline commentary indicated "meaningful customer interest" in the weeks after the tool's release in October, he added.
The company raised its full-year margin guidance by 10 basis points, which indicates that "this emerging product cycle is not derailing margin expansion," the analyst stated. "Ongoing acceleration in the core from agents and multi-cloud strength is likely to more than offset softness in non-core businesses," he further wrote.
Guggenheim Securities On Salesforce
Analyst John DiFucci maintained a Neutral rating on the stock.
Salesforce exceeded consensus estimates, including cRPO, "which benefited from early renewals more than from strong new bookings," DiFucci said. The company's fourth-quarter guidance came in below the Street, "despite getting about 1% of growth from acquisitions completed in November," he added.
Street expectations of 9% revenue growth in fiscal 2026 appears "optimistic," unless the company makes more acquisitions, the analyst stated.
CRM Price Action: Shares of Salesforce had risen by 8.19% to $358.01 at the time of publication on Wednesday.
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• Salesforce Q3 Earnings Preview: Analyst Says ‘Transitional Year’ Coming, Recommends To Add Shares On Pullbacks
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