Key Research Insights for Bank of America, Salesforce, and Pepsi
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Dec 05 2025
0mins
Should l Buy CRM?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
Zacks Research Daily Highlights: The report features research on 16 major stocks, including Bank of America, Salesforce, and PepsiCo, along with insights on two micro-cap stocks, United Homes Group and AmeriServ Financial, emphasizing the unique nature of their microcap research.
Bank of America Outlook: Despite a strong performance over the past year, Bank of America faces challenges with volatile trading revenues and rising expenses, although it is expected to see revenue growth supported by loan growth and digital improvements.
Salesforce Performance: Salesforce has struggled against industry competition and currency fluctuations, but it benefits from strong demand for digital transformation and its acquisition of Slack, which enhances its market position.
PepsiCo's Business Fundamentals: PepsiCo's shares have underperformed due to cost pressures and currency headwinds, but its third-quarter results show improvement in global business fundamentals, particularly in beverages and convenient foods, indicating potential for long-term growth.
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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: 185.290
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
Current: 185.290
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
About CRM
Salesforce, Inc. is a provider of customer relationship management (CRM) technology. The Company helps organizations of any size reimagine their business for the world of artificial intelligence (AI). With Agentforce, its platform, organizations can bring humans together with AI agents to drive customer success on one deeply unified platform. With the Salesforce platform, it delivers a single source of truth, connecting customer data with integrated AI across systems, apps and devices to help companies sell, service, market and conduct commerce from anywhere. Agentforce is a new layer of the Salesforce platform that enables companies to build and deploy AI agents that can respond to inputs, make decisions and take action autonomously across business functions. Agentforce includes a suite of customizable agents for use across sales, service, marketing and commerce. Datablazer is a data-driven innovator, which leverages the Company’s platform to unlock insights and drive decisions.
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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- Stock Performance Decline: Over the past 52 weeks, Salesforce's stock has plummeted nearly 42%, and since January, it has dropped more than 30%, reflecting market concerns about its future performance and potentially impacting investor confidence.
- Volatility Analysis: Despite the stock's poor performance, market sentiment appears cautiously optimistic, as data shows that investors are more focused on upside risks than downside risks, suggesting a belief in a potential rebound.
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- Intuit's Growth Potential: Intuit expects revenue growth of 14% to 15% this year, with 80% of its business segment revenue coming from its online ecosystem, which grew 21% year-over-year, a strategy that enhances its market competitiveness and increases customer stickiness.
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- Stock Performance Decline: Over the past 52 weeks, Salesforce's stock has plummeted nearly 42%, and since January, it has dropped more than 30%, reflecting market concerns about its future performance and potentially impacting investor confidence.
- Volatility Analysis: Despite the stock's poor performance, market sentiment appears cautiously optimistic, as data shows that investors are more focused on upside risks than downside risks, suggesting a belief in a potential rebound.
- Trading Parameter Calculation: According to the Black-Scholes model, Salesforce's stock is expected to fluctuate between $180 and $198 over the next five weeks, and if it surpasses $195 post-earnings on February 27, investors could see returns exceeding 138%, highlighting market expectations for potential gains.
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Humanoid Robot Performance: NBC News reported on Unitree's Lunar New Year celebration, showcasing robots performing impressive feats like kung fu, back flips, and swordplay with remarkable speed and coordination.
Advancements in Robotics: The event highlights the rapid development of artificial-intelligence-trained robots capable of performing labor-saving tasks, aligning with recent discussions on the accelerating pace of the robot revolution.
See More
Key Market Focus for Next Week
- State of the Union: President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address on February 24, which is expected to heighten market focus on tariff policies amid increasing partisan tensions, potentially impacting investor sentiment.
- Earnings Season: A busy week for earnings includes major companies like Nvidia, Salesforce, and Paramount, with investors anticipating Nvidia's fourth-quarter results to exceed expectations, particularly due to increased AI chip shipments driving future demand.
- Federal Reserve Commentary: Multiple Federal Reserve officials will speak throughout the week, and the market will closely monitor their views on interest rate adjustments, which could lead to a recalibration of future rate cut expectations and affect market liquidity.
- Producer Price Index Release: The Producer Price Index for January will be released on February 24, with economists forecasting a decrease from 0.5% in December to 0.3%, indicating a potential easing of inflationary pressures that may influence market expectations.
See More
Investors View AI as a Double-Edged Sword
- Software Stocks Sell-Off: Investors are reducing earnings multiples for software stocks due to analysts recalibrating growth expectations, leading to a broad sell-off as fears grow that AI tools may replace various applications, negatively impacting market confidence.
- Intuit's Growth Potential: Intuit expects revenue growth of 14% to 15% this year, with its online ecosystem accounting for 80% of its business segment and growing 21% year-over-year, indicating a strong competitive position bolstered by high switching costs for small businesses.
- Salesforce's AI Strategy: Salesforce's Agentforce saw annual recurring revenue soar 330% year-over-year to $540 million, and while this remains a small portion of its overall business, its integration with the entire software ecosystem could significantly boost customer spending on subscriptions, driving future revenue growth.
- Optimistic Market Outlook: Despite current stock prices being below analysts' target prices, Intuit and Salesforce have upside potentials of 100% and 72%, respectively, suggesting that patient long-term investors may find attractive opportunities amid the market sell-off, especially as both companies actively expand their products and services.
See More
Software Stocks Decline as Investors Reassess AI Impact
- Software Stock Decline: Software stocks have broadly declined in value as analysts reassess the impact of AI on the industry, leading investors to lower the earnings multiples they are willing to pay due to uncertainties in future earnings growth, which has negatively affected market confidence.
- Intuit's Growth Potential: Intuit expects revenue growth of 14% to 15% this year, with 80% of its business segment revenue coming from its online ecosystem, which grew 21% year-over-year, a strategy that enhances its market competitiveness and increases customer stickiness.
- Salesforce's AI Strategy: Salesforce's Agentforce saw annual recurring revenue climb 330% year-over-year to $540 million in the most recent quarter, indicating strong momentum in AI despite being a small portion of its overall business, which could significantly increase customer spending on subscriptions.
- Market Valuation Discrepancies: Intuit's median price target on Wall Street is $800, while it currently trades at $400, and Salesforce's target is $325 with a current price of $190, indicating significant upside potential for both companies, attracting the attention of long-term investors.
See More
Investment Strategy Analysis Amid Market Turbulence
- Middle East Tensions: The Trump administration's hardline stance on Iran creates market uncertainty, with oil prices nearing six-month highs, potentially impacting related energy stocks, prompting investors to proceed with caution.
- Importance of Earnings Season: Upcoming earnings reports from Home Depot and Workday are critical; the former faces challenges due to immigration issues, while the latter is at a pivotal point in the AI competition, which could affect market confidence in the software sector.
- Nvidia's Key Report: Nvidia's earnings report is highly anticipated, with mixed market views on its profitability and demand outlook; a strong performance could trigger a significant rebound in tech stocks, reestablishing its market leadership.
- Software Sector Pressure: Salesforce and Intuit are under competitive pressure from AI agents, leading to cautious market sentiment regarding their future profitability, which may result in further stock price declines, necessitating close monitoring of industry developments.
See More
