TLDR
- Salesforce (CRM) rose about 3% in pre-market trading on Monday after BofA Securities lifted its rating from Underperform to Buy.
- BofA raised its price target from $160 to $285 after talks with CTOs who said replacing Salesforce platforms is highly unlikely.
- AI-related annual recurring revenue topped $1.5 billion in the latest quarter, helped by the Agentforce platform.
- The consensus price target is $275.14, and about 79% of analysts have buy-equivalent ratings.
- Investors are also watching Wednesday’s September CPI report for clues on Federal Reserve rate policy.
Salesforce (CRM) stock traded near $237 in pre-market action on Monday, up about 3.5% from Friday’s close of $229.13. BofA Securities drove the move by raising its rating on the company by two notches, from Underperform to Buy.
The bank also lifted its price target from $160 to $285. That is a reversal of the bearish call BofA made in May 2026.
Why BofA Changed Its View
The earlier negative view rested on fears that artificial intelligence could displace Salesforce’s software. BofA analysts spoke with CTOs at major companies to test that idea.
Those CTOs said replacing Salesforce platforms is highly unlikely. The platforms hold business logic, data pipelines, workflows and compliance frameworks that are hard to move.
Salesforce’s Agentforce AI platform is adding to the case. Annual recurring revenue from AI-related products passed $1.5 billion in the most recent quarter.
An insider filing (Form 4) was also submitted on October 11. The details were not part of the reports.
Analyst Views and Recent Results
Wall Street was already leaning positive. According to MarketBeat, three analysts rate the stock Strong Buy, 30 rate it Buy, 14 rate it Hold and three rate it Sell.
The consensus price target is $275.14. BMO Capital Markets raised its target from $250 to $285 on September 17, and Argus lifted its target from $290 to $300 in late August.
Wells Fargo moved its target from $230 to $250 with an equal weight rating. Wall Street Zen cut the stock from Buy to Hold on August 1.
Salesforce reported earnings on August 26. Earnings per share came in at $5.90, well above the $3.27 estimate.
Revenue rose 10.8% from a year earlier to $11.35 billion. Analysts had expected $11.33 billion.
The company has guided to fiscal 2027 earnings per share of $16.67 to $16.71. It paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 on October 8, a yield of 0.8%.
Insider and Institutional Activity
Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares on September 4 at an average price of $260.61. The sale was worth about $1.17 million.
Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares on September 18 at $239.33. That purchase was worth about $999,000.
Institutions own 80.43% of the stock. Central Bank & Trust raised its stake by 67.9% in the third quarter to 6,787 shares.
The stock closed Friday at $229.13, according to Investing.com. MarketBeat showed it trading at $228.47 during Friday’s session, with a 50-day average of $225.66.
The 200-day average sits at $192.67, and the 52-week range runs from $146.32 to $269.11. Broader US futures were mixed early Monday, with the S&P 500 and Dow up 0.1% and the Nasdaq down 0.1%.
The September CPI report arrives Wednesday, October 14. Salesforce’s market cap stood at $188.03 billion as of Friday.
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