Investing.com -- Shares in Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) fell in early U.S. trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan removed the cloud-based software group from its analyst focus list.
In a note to clients, analysts at the bank said the move was carried out to reflect "outperformance and realization of certain catalysts" in the stock, which has risen by more than 54% this year.
The JPMorgan analysts flagged concerns over ongoing signs of "unevenness and variability" in the demand environment for the front-office software-as-a-service offerings provided by Salesforce.
The company reported its slowest increase in quarterly revenue since 2010 earlier this year and said it expected a further slowdown ahead, as clients rein in tech spending in response to elevated inflation and a jump in interest rates.
Hopes remain that generative AI can provide a boost to Salesforce's recent performance, leading at least 25 brokerages to improve their price targets for Salesforce in early June, according to Refinitiv data cited by Reuters.
But the JPMorgan analysts argued that some of the benefits from the surge in interest in AI may have now been "played out."
Salesforce is set to report its results for the second quarter on August 30.