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Investing.com - Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler has lowered the price target on Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to $221.00 from $255.00 while maintaining an Underperform rating following the company’s latest earnings report. The target sits at the lower end of Wall Street’s range of $225-$440, with InvestingPro analysis suggesting the stock is currently overvalued despite its impressive 77.34% gross profit margins.
The stock fell approximately 5% in after-hours trading after Salesforce delivered what Bernstein described as an "in-line quarter" with guidance that disappointed investors. The company slightly beat revenue expectations but issued light third-quarter guidance with only the top end meeting consensus estimates. InvestingPro data shows the company maintaining revenue growth of 7.97%, though trading at a relatively high P/E ratio of 39.51x.
Management tightened the lower end of the fiscal year guidance but did not pass on the current quarter’s beat to the full-year outlook nor raise the top end of the range. According to Bernstein’s analysis, when stripping out foreign exchange tailwinds, Salesforce is growing strictly in the high single-digit range.
Bernstein expressed concern that Salesforce represents "a mature business in a mature market" where expectations were running too high, particularly regarding the company’s Agentforce offering. The firm also noted that the possibility of large or expensive mergers and acquisitions remains a concern.
The research firm believes Salesforce can grow subscription revenue in the high single digits near term, with further slowing over time, and that the ability to drive margins will become constrained.
In other recent news, Salesforce Inc. reported its Q2 2025 earnings, surpassing Wall Street expectations with an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.91, compared to the forecasted $2.78. The company also reported revenue of $10.25 billion, slightly exceeding the anticipated $10.14 billion. This modest outperformance in revenue and current remaining performance obligation (cRPO) was accompanied by an operating margin that beat consensus by 50 basis points. However, the free cash flow margin was 180 basis points below consensus estimates.
Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy rating on Salesforce, maintaining a price target of $385, amid optimism surrounding artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, KeyBanc lowered its price target for Salesforce to $400 from $440, citing a negative narrative affecting the application software sector. Despite these adjustments, KeyBanc maintained an Overweight rating on the stock. These developments reflect a mix of optimism and caution among analysts regarding Salesforce’s future performance.
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