It has been a rough year in 2026 for shares of Salesforce Inc. (CRM). A year is one thing, but it has actually been a rough couple of years after sliding from $365 down to a low of just under $150. The fears of agentic AI and redirected spending have proved to be painful even though Salesforce wants its own position within AI. What if the worst is now over for Salesforce and its shareholders.
First and foremost, despite a gain of 33% from its lows, Salesforce shares at the present time are down 25% YTD while the S&P 500 is up 14% YTD and at all-time highs. So, why might the worst now be over?
TWO FRESH “BUY” RATINGS
A fresh analyst research call from JPMorgan is only one of the potential drivers here. It’s actually not the report, but what the report is telegraphing. JPMorgan’s Samik Chatterjee has resumed its Salesforce coverage on August 13 with an Overweight rating while assigning a $250 price target. If the firm is right then that’s implied upside of 28%. The firm expects a rebound from expected revenue growth and AI advancements.
JPMorgan sees Salesforce’s core business accelerating during the second half of FY-2027. The firm now believes that concerns of disruption to its position with enterprises from adoption of frontier AI models and competitive dynamics looks limited to a smaller portion of the overall business. JPMorgan also views the current valuations as inexpensive now that shares are down so much in 2026 and from its highs. After all, it did lose more than half of its value in less than 18 months.
A second analyst call was also seen on August 13 from Monnes Crespi & Hardt, reiterating a Buy rating and raising its price target to $222 from $200.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER ANALYST CALLS?
The calls are similar to a prior July 1 research call from Guggenheim, when the firm raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $228 price target. And Salesforce shares were trading closer to $160 at that time. Guggenheim was looking more bullish on the software sector at that time based on AI fears being overblown.
Guggenheim also viewed Salesforce’s valuations as an attractive entry point and referred to an “Armageddon scenario” as being “misaligned with reality.” While the report cited that AI does actually pose a significant risk to the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, the decline should be priced in rather than representing a total wipeout for investors fearing the impacts of AI.
Two other fresh analyst reports from this same week included muted expectations but with increased price targets:
- 8/12 UBS maintained its Neutral rating but the price target was raised to $210 from $185.
- 8/12 Wells Fargo maintained its Equal-Weight rating but raised its target to $205 from $200.
Other firms have issued more cautious stances:
- 7/21 Morgan Stanley downgraded Salesforce to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the target to $185 from $287.
- 7/20 CLSA started Salesforce as Hold with a $165 price target.
And on July 14, Evercore ISI maintained its Outperform rating, while trimming its price target down to $250 from $260.
CFRA (S&P) also reiterated its Buy rating on August 8 with a $210 price target. That report noted that its valuation was also at a large discount:
Our Buy view reflects CRM’s successful pivot to the Agentic Enterprise model, with the stock trading at less than 12x our CY 27 EPS view, representing a significant discount to historical averages of 28x (three-year) and 42x (five year). We see CRM positioned to capitalize on emerging agentic AI market while maintaining core leadership. Agentforce and Data 360 demonstrate strong product-market fit with 50%+ of bookings from existing customers. Management’s FY 30 targets of $63B revenue reflect confidence in its AI strategy.
Wall Street’s consensus price target is closer to $241 at the present time. Here are the consensus estimates after 2026 adjusted earnings of $12.52 EPS and revenues of $41.5 billion, with almost all firms still expecting earnings and revenue growth:
- 2027 — $14.13 EPS and $46.1 billion in revenue
- 2028 — $15.51 EPS and $50.5 billion in revenue
DISCLAIMER
Oggonomics never supports any single research report being used as the sole reason to buy or sell a stock. Analysts can be wrong, and the overall scenario can change in a blink. That said, Wall Street was burned by backing Salesforce at ever-higher price targets from 2024 and previous times. It seems that Wall Street is now changing its tune again now that the stock and its valuations are much more reasonable than in the past.
All research ratings and price targets have been assigned to each firm by name. Oggonomics does not issue formal ratings and price targets of its own. And do not forget that analyst research reports never come with assured outcomes and guarantees. The reports also never come with money-back guarantees in the even of losses, and there are no assurances that analyst price targets are ever achieved even if the underlying expectations are met.
