BigBear.ai appoints Sean Ricker as chief financial officer
Investing.com - Northland downgraded salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) stock rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered its price target to $264.00 from $396.00. The software giant, currently trading at $248.75 with a market cap of $236.81B, maintains impressive gross profit margins of 77.65% and boasts a perfect Piotroski Score of 9, according to InvestingPro data.
The downgrade comes after Northland’s previous upgrade thesis that Salesforce’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) would benefit from AgentForce appears to be incorrect, as the company has not shown the expected acceleration in current Remaining Performance Obligation (cRPO). Despite this setback, InvestingPro analysis shows the company maintains a GREAT financial health score of 3.09, with revenue growing at 8.33% year-over-year.
Northland has reduced its fiscal year 2027 estimates for Salesforce, though it noted that the magnitude of the reduction does not fully reflect the higher probability that horizontal software will be negatively impacted by Agentic AI.
The firm expects vertical software to be "very unlikely negatively impacted" by these same factors, suggesting a differentiated outlook across Salesforce’s product portfolio.
The new $264 price target is based on 18 times Salesforce’s projected fiscal year 2027 free cash flow, representing a significant reduction from the previous valuation multiple.
In other recent news, Salesforce announced a significant investment of $15 billion in San Francisco over the next five years, aiming to support a new AI Incubator Hub and various workforce development initiatives. This announcement comes as the company gears up for its annual Dreamforce conference, which is expected to host nearly 50,000 attendees. In a separate development, Marc and Lynne Benioff, along with Salesforce, pledged a combined $139 million to Bay Area healthcare and education, including a $100 million gift to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. Additionally, KeyBanc Capital Markets noted in its West Coast tour that Salesforce is among the companies making strides in enterprise AI adoption and workflow integration.
Ahead of the Dreamforce conference, Stifel lowered its price target for Salesforce to $300, maintaining a Buy rating despite concerns about top-line growth and AI monetization. In a move to enhance global pharmacy engagement, Haleon has partnered with Salesforce to implement its technology, aiming to provide data-driven insights to its sales force. These developments highlight Salesforce’s ongoing efforts to expand its influence in AI and healthcare, while also addressing investor concerns through strategic partnerships and significant community investments.
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