Intuit and Salesforce Face AI Challenges Amid Market Selloff
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 17 2026
0mins
Should l Buy CRM?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
- Market Performance Decline: At the start of 2026, Intuit and Salesforce saw their stock prices drop by 35% and 27%, respectively, making them the worst performers in the S&P 500, reflecting market fears that AI technologies could disrupt traditional software business models, leading to both companies trading approximately 45% below their all-time highs.
- Revenue Growth Potential: Despite challenges, Intuit is projected to grow its sales by 12.5% in 2026 and 2027, reaching $23.80 billion, with a 31% increase in GAAP earnings in FY25, showcasing its resilience and growth potential in the AI era.
- AI Integration Progress: Both Intuit and Salesforce have actively integrated AI technologies into their product portfolios over the past few years, with Intuit achieving a 49% increase in GAAP earnings in Q2 FY26, while Salesforce's Agentforce AI tool reached $800 million in annual recurring revenue in fiscal 2026, marking a 169% year-over-year growth.
- Investment Value Emergence: Following significant stock price corrections, Intuit and Salesforce are currently viewed as potential value stocks, with Intuit's average Zacks price target indicating a 43% upside, while Salesforce's target suggests a 40% upside, indicating that market confidence in their future growth remains intact.
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Analyst Views on CRM
Wall Street analysts forecast CRM stock price to rise
39 Analyst Rating
29 Buy
9 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 170.850
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
Current: 170.850
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
About CRM
Salesforce, Inc. is a customer relationship management (CRM) technology company. Its artificial intelligence (AI) powered Agentforce 360 Platform offers sales, service, marketing, commerce, collaboration, data management, integration, analytics, and information technology (IT) service solutions. It enables customers to build and deploy digital labor for employees and customers, leveraging autonomous AI agents across business functions. Its service offerings include Agentforce Sales, Agentforce Service, Agentforce 360 Platform, Slack and Others. The Agentforce Sales provides sales capabilities and tools built for organizations across prospecting, sales engagement, team collaboration, sales analytics and AI, sales programs, sales performance, partner management, and revenue and orders. The Agentforce Service provides field service solutions that enable companies to connect service agents, dispatchers and mobile employees through platform to schedule, dispatch and manage jobs.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Impact of Iran War: Since the onset of the Iran war, oil prices have doubled, and despite a significant drop following the two-week ceasefire news, the S&P 500 remains only 2.3% below its all-time high, indicating market resilience and adaptability to rising oil prices.
- Tech Stock Turmoil: Software stocks like ServiceNow and Salesforce have plummeted by 30% to 40% despite strong profitability due to fears of AI's impact, while hardware stocks have surged by 50% to 150%, reflecting a stark divergence in market sentiment towards the tech sector.
- Bond Market Stability: The 10-year Treasury yield peaked at 4.5% on March 27 before settling at 4.32%, with the low-rate environment providing support for the stock market, even as discussions about Federal Reserve policies remain prevalent.
- Bank Earnings Season: Goldman Sachs is set to report earnings, expected to showcase a stronger narrative than traditional banks, while Wells Fargo's performance may be influenced by market underestimations of its historical issues, potentially leading to more realistic expectations.
See More
Bullish and Bearish Analysis of Palantir Technologies
- Government Dependency: Palantir's technology is extensively utilized by the U.S. government for various applications, from military intelligence to illegal immigration tracking, and despite defense budget cuts, the company continues to experience robust growth, underscoring its critical position in the government market.
- Commercial Expansion: Palantir has successfully penetrated the commercial sector through its Foundry AI Platform (AIP), which can solve customer problems using real data within five days, significantly reducing sales cycles and enhancing its competitive edge in the market.
- Valuation Risks: Although Palantir has seen revenue growth accelerate for ten consecutive quarters, its forward P/E ratio exceeds 111 times and its P/S ratio approaches 49 times, which may cap the stock's upside potential, necessitating caution from investors.
- Future Competition Threats: While Palantir currently faces little competition, the shift towards agentic AI could see companies like ServiceNow and Salesforce emerge as future competitors, potentially challenging Palantir's role as a bridge between data and workflow.
See More
Palantir Technologies: Growth Opportunities and Risks
- Government Business Growth: Palantir's technology is widely utilized by the U.S. government, maintaining robust growth despite defense budget cuts, underscoring its critical position in the government market.
- Commercial Sector Expansion: With its Foundry AI platform, Palantir can address actual customer problems within five days, significantly shortening sales cycles and enhancing market competitiveness.
- Valuation Risks: Despite accelerating revenue growth for ten consecutive quarters, its forward P/E ratio exceeding 111 times may limit stock price upside, warranting caution from investors.
- Future Competitive Threats: While Palantir currently faces little competition, the shift towards agentic AI could introduce more competitors in the future, potentially impacting its market position.
See More
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- Layoffs Linked to AI: An increasing number of companies are citing artificial intelligence in their layoff announcements, with Salesforce cutting 4,000 customer support jobs and stating that AI now handles 50% of its workload, indicating the profound impact of AI on corporate operations.
- Executive Anxiety Intensifies: May Habib, CEO of AI platform Writer, noted that Fortune 500 executives are experiencing a 'collective panic attack,' reflecting deep concerns about the potential job losses due to AI advancements.
- Shift in Skill Demand: As AI automation rises, the demand for interpersonal skills is increasing, with Coursera's CEO Greg Hart reporting a threefold increase in enrollment for critical thinking courses over the past year, highlighting the importance of human skills in the future workforce.
- Insufficient Job Preparation: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore warned that failing to prepare for the loss of knowledge work jobs could repeat the mistakes of the globalization era, emphasizing the need for a real action plan to address impending career transitions.
See More
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- Software Stock Plunge: The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) plummeted over 24% in Q1 2026, marking the steepest quarterly decline since Q4 2008, reflecting investor fears that AI could replace traditional software platforms, leading to a dramatic drop in market confidence.
- Surge in Short Selling: Goldman Sachs reports that short-selling volume across individual stocks has reached its highest level since 2016, indicating heightened panic among investors, as the software sector's relative performance has exceeded declines seen during the dot-com bust and the financial crisis.
- Goldman's Strategic Response: Goldman Sachs introduced an
See More
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- Market Rally: The S&P 500 surged 3.6% this week, marking its best performance since November, driven by a temporary ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran, reflecting positive market sentiment towards easing geopolitical risks.
- Inflation Data Impact: The consumer price index rose 0.9% in March, pushing the annual inflation rate to 3.3%, with a significant 10.9% increase in energy costs; however, core prices came in better than expected, indicating that underlying inflation pressures are being contained, which may support market stability.
- Software vs. Hardware Divergence: Investors shifted towards hardware companies linked to data centers and AI infrastructure, with Marvell Technology and Intel seeing stock increases of 20% and 23%, respectively, while software firms like Salesforce and Adobe faced sell-offs, reflecting a bearish sentiment towards the software sector.
- Meta's AI Advancement: Meta unveiled its new AI model, Muse Spark, leading to a 9.6% stock price increase, indicating progress in the AI space; if successful, this could bolster market confidence in its aggressive investment plans, with projected capital expenditures for FY 2026 reaching between $115 billion and $135 billion.
See More
