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CRM Stock Up More Than 5% in a Month: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold?
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Key Takeaways
Salesforce shares rose 5.1% in a month after Q4 revenues grew 12% year over year, beating expectations.
CRM expects 12-13% revenue growth in Q1 and 10-11% for fiscal 2027 as AI tools gain traction.
Salesforce's AI tools like Agentforce and Data Cloud generated $2.9B recurring revenues in Q4.
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) shares have gained 5.1% in the past month, outperforming the broader Zacks Internet – Software industry, which has risen 3.9% in the same period. The stock has also performed better than several large enterprise software peers, including Oracle Corporation (ORCL - Free Report) , Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) . Over the past month, Microsoft stock gained 1%, while shares of Oracle and SAP have fallen 4.5% and 3.9%, respectively.
This outperformance, especially at a time when equity markets remain volatile due to macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, naturally raises a key question for investors: Should they stay invested in Salesforce or take profits after the recent move?
The recent rally largely followed Salesforce’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results reported on Feb. 25. The company had been facing concerns about slowing revenue growth. For years, Salesforce delivered strong double-digit expansion, but growth had recently cooled to the high single-digit range.
The trend changed in the fourth quarter when revenues grew 12% year over year. This improvement signaled that demand for Salesforce’s platform remains resilient.
Management expects this momentum to continue, projecting 12-13% growth for the first quarter and 10-11% growth for full fiscal 2027. Analyst estimates are also pointing to similar low-double-digit growth for the first quarter and fiscal 2027.
Salesforce Sales Growth Estimates
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Despite the positives, Salesforce’s outlook is exposed to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions that can affect enterprise IT spending. In uncertain economic environments, businesses often delay large IT spending, which can slow new deal activity and expansion revenues. Since Salesforce’s revenues come from enterprise customers, any slowdown in corporate budgets could directly impact growth.
Considering the uncertain macroeconomic environment, it would be a very difficult task for Salesforce to maintain the double-digit sales growth momentum.
AI and Platform Expansion Support CRM’s Long-Term Growth
Salesforce has long held the top position in the customer relationship management market, according to Gartner. Its strategy is expanding well beyond customer management. The company is building a broader enterprise ecosystem centered on artificial intelligence (AI), data and collaboration. Acquisitions such as Slack, Informatica, Waii, Bluebirds and Convergence.ai show Salesforce’s effort to create a unified enterprise platform.
AI is now central to Salesforce’s growth story. Since the 2023 rollout of Einstein GPT, Salesforce has been embedding generative AI across its offerings to help companies automate processes, improve decision-making and strengthen customer relationships.
Its latest innovation, Agentforce, is gaining momentum. Combined with Data Cloud, these AI-driven offerings brought in $2.9 billion in recurring revenues in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, representing more than 200% year-over-year increase. Agentforce alone generated $800 million in recurring revenues, up 169% year over year. More than 60% of Agentforce deals came from existing clients, showing Salesforce’s success in cross-selling AI features to its user base.
Salesforce’s Valuation Remains Reasonable
Salesforce stock looks attractive from a valuation perspective. CRM is currently trading at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 14.69, significantly lower than the industry’s average of 28.41.
Salesforce Forward 12-Month P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Compared to major competitors like SAP, Microsoft and Oracle, Salesforce stock is cheaper on a P/E basis. At present, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle trade at P/E multiples of 22.89, 22.51 and 19.16, respectively.
Conclusion: Hold Salesforce Stock for Now
Salesforce’s recent rally reflects improving growth expectations, strong AI adoption and a better-than-expected earnings performance. The company is also positioning itself well in the fast-growing AI-driven enterprise software market. Low valuation also makes the stock more attractive.
However, risks remain. Salesforce still depends on enterprise spending, which could fluctuate if macroeconomic uncertainty continues. Investors should also watch whether the company can consistently maintain double-digit revenue growth.
For now, the most sensible approach is to hold Salesforce stock while monitoring how its AI strategy and enterprise demand evolve in the coming quarters.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
CRM Stock Up More Than 5% in a Month: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold?
Key Takeaways
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) shares have gained 5.1% in the past month, outperforming the broader Zacks Internet – Software industry, which has risen 3.9% in the same period. The stock has also performed better than several large enterprise software peers, including Oracle Corporation (ORCL - Free Report) , Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) . Over the past month, Microsoft stock gained 1%, while shares of Oracle and SAP have fallen 4.5% and 3.9%, respectively.
This outperformance, especially at a time when equity markets remain volatile due to macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, naturally raises a key question for investors: Should they stay invested in Salesforce or take profits after the recent move?
Salesforce One-Month Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Strong Q4 Results Revive Salesforce’s Growth Narrative
The recent rally largely followed Salesforce’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results reported on Feb. 25. The company had been facing concerns about slowing revenue growth. For years, Salesforce delivered strong double-digit expansion, but growth had recently cooled to the high single-digit range.
The trend changed in the fourth quarter when revenues grew 12% year over year. This improvement signaled that demand for Salesforce’s platform remains resilient.
Management expects this momentum to continue, projecting 12-13% growth for the first quarter and 10-11% growth for full fiscal 2027. Analyst estimates are also pointing to similar low-double-digit growth for the first quarter and fiscal 2027.
Salesforce Sales Growth Estimates
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Despite the positives, Salesforce’s outlook is exposed to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions that can affect enterprise IT spending. In uncertain economic environments, businesses often delay large IT spending, which can slow new deal activity and expansion revenues. Since Salesforce’s revenues come from enterprise customers, any slowdown in corporate budgets could directly impact growth.
Considering the uncertain macroeconomic environment, it would be a very difficult task for Salesforce to maintain the double-digit sales growth momentum.
AI and Platform Expansion Support CRM’s Long-Term Growth
Salesforce has long held the top position in the customer relationship management market, according to Gartner. Its strategy is expanding well beyond customer management. The company is building a broader enterprise ecosystem centered on artificial intelligence (AI), data and collaboration. Acquisitions such as Slack, Informatica, Waii, Bluebirds and Convergence.ai show Salesforce’s effort to create a unified enterprise platform.
AI is now central to Salesforce’s growth story. Since the 2023 rollout of Einstein GPT, Salesforce has been embedding generative AI across its offerings to help companies automate processes, improve decision-making and strengthen customer relationships.
Its latest innovation, Agentforce, is gaining momentum. Combined with Data Cloud, these AI-driven offerings brought in $2.9 billion in recurring revenues in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, representing more than 200% year-over-year increase. Agentforce alone generated $800 million in recurring revenues, up 169% year over year. More than 60% of Agentforce deals came from existing clients, showing Salesforce’s success in cross-selling AI features to its user base.
Salesforce’s Valuation Remains Reasonable
Salesforce stock looks attractive from a valuation perspective. CRM is currently trading at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 14.69, significantly lower than the industry’s average of 28.41.
Salesforce Forward 12-Month P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Compared to major competitors like SAP, Microsoft and Oracle, Salesforce stock is cheaper on a P/E basis. At present, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle trade at P/E multiples of 22.89, 22.51 and 19.16, respectively.
Conclusion: Hold Salesforce Stock for Now
Salesforce’s recent rally reflects improving growth expectations, strong AI adoption and a better-than-expected earnings performance. The company is also positioning itself well in the fast-growing AI-driven enterprise software market. Low valuation also makes the stock more attractive.
However, risks remain. Salesforce still depends on enterprise spending, which could fluctuate if macroeconomic uncertainty continues. Investors should also watch whether the company can consistently maintain double-digit revenue growth.
For now, the most sensible approach is to hold Salesforce stock while monitoring how its AI strategy and enterprise demand evolve in the coming quarters.
Currently, Salesforce carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.