TLDR
- Goldman Sachs maintained its Buy rating and $242 price target on Salesforce (CRM), which currently trades at $171.22
- Analyst Gabriela Borges expects organic growth acceleration in Q3, driven by stronger new business and bookings
- Salesforce is pursuing consumption-based pricing, premium bundling, and agentic licenses as part of its AI monetization push
- Customers using Salesforce with AI agents are showing up to 5x higher usage, with Slack emerging as an early beneficiary
- Salesforce is acquiring Fin (formerly Intercom) for $3.6 billion to strengthen its AI-driven customer service capabilities
Salesforce (CRM) currently trades at $171.22, down 28% over the past six months. Goldman Sachs is sticking with its Buy rating and $242 price target, arguing the stock is undervalued at current levels.
Analyst Gabriela Borges hosted Salesforce investor relations representatives in London on July 6-7. Following those meetings, she came away with a more concrete picture of where the company is heading.
Borges expects Salesforce to see organic growth acceleration in Q3. She points to improved new business activity and stronger bookings as the main drivers behind that expectation.
The analyst is treating management’s acknowledgment of headwinds in Tableau, Commerce, and Marketing as a reset rather than a structural problem. Goldman Sachs believes Salesforce is being clear-eyed about the 12 to 24 month impact those pressures will have on its growth.
AI Monetization in Focus
Salesforce is building out what Borges calls a “headless” monetization strategy. That includes consumption-based pricing, premium bundling, and licenses tied to AI agents, with more details expected at the Agentforce event in September.
The early data on agents is hard to ignore. Customers using Salesforce with AI agents are showing up to 5x higher usage than without them. Slack is also holding up well as new LLM-based features roll out.
Twenty-four analysts have revised earnings estimates upward for the upcoming period, according to InvestingPro. The company also carries a 77.6% gross profit margin, which gives it room to absorb near-term pressure.
Fin Acquisition Adds AI Service Asset
Salesforce announced it will acquire Fin, formerly known as Intercom, for approximately $3.6 billion. Goldman Sachs views Fin as one of just three or four leading assets in the AI customer service space.
The key question, according to Borges, is whether Salesforce can integrate Fin’s technology with its existing Agentforce stack and scale it to smaller customers once the deal closes.
Other analysts have taken varying positions. KeyBanc downgraded Salesforce to Sector Weight from Overweight, citing concerns about how long Agentforce will take to become a material growth driver.
Guggenheim went the other way, upgrading Salesforce to Buy from Neutral. The firm cited current valuations as an attractive entry point.
Citizens maintained its Market Outperform rating with a $315 price target following the Fin acquisition announcement. Monness also holds a Buy rating, though with a more conservative $200 target.
Salesforce has also partnered with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 Team to deploy its Agentforce 360 platform and Slack for fan engagement and team operations.
Goldman’s $242 price target implies roughly 41% upside from the current trading price of $171.22.
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