Salesforce's Acquisition of Informatica: Salesforce has acquired Informatica for $8 billion to enhance its data platform, aiming to improve data governance and integration for enterprise AI, particularly against competitors like Microsoft and Oracle.
Focus on Data Quality for AI: The acquisition addresses the challenge of preparing data for AI applications, as Salesforce's "Agentforce" relies on accurate data to avoid generating misleading information, known as "hallucinations."
Competitive Advantage: By integrating Informatica's data management tools, Salesforce strengthens its position in the multi-cloud environment, allowing it to manage data across various systems, which is a significant advantage over Oracle's more restrictive approach.
Market Implications and Stock Outlook: The acquisition positions Salesforce to capture a larger share of the $150 billion corporate data market, with CRM stock currently rated as a Moderate Buy, indicating potential for significant growth.
Wall Street analysts forecast CRM stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CRM is 326.47 USD with a low forecast of 221.00 USD and a high forecast of 430.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
40 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast CRM stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CRM is 326.47 USD with a low forecast of 221.00 USD and a high forecast of 430.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
30 Buy
9 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 233.530
Low
221.00
Averages
326.47
High
430.00
Current: 233.530
Low
221.00
Averages
326.47
High
430.00
RBC Capital
Rishi Jaluria
Sector Perform
maintain
$250 -> $290
Al Analysis
2026-01-05
Reason
RBC Capital
Rishi Jaluria
Price Target
$250 -> $290
Al Analysis
2026-01-05
maintain
Sector Perform
Reason
RBC Capital analyst Rishi Jaluria raised the firm's price target on Salesforce to $290 from $250 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares. 2026 is likely to be a year when AI tailwinds become more evident for companies well positioned for enterprise AI adoption, while less prepared peers may remain pressured by the "AI is the death of software" narrative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Enterprise spending appears to be stabilizing and improving in select areas, with GenAI driving innovation even as management teams remain conservative in early 2026 guidance, the firm says.
RBC Capital
Sector Perform
maintain
$250 -> $290
2026-01-05
Reason
RBC Capital
Price Target
$250 -> $290
2026-01-05
maintain
Sector Perform
Reason
RBC Capital raised the firm's price target on Salesforce to $290 from $250 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares. 2026 is likely to be a year when AI tailwinds become more evident for companies well positioned for enterprise AI adoption, while less prepared peers may remain pressured by the "AI is the death of software" narrative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Enterprise spending appears to be stabilizing and improving in select areas, with GenAI driving innovation even as management teams remain conservative in early 2026 guidance, the firm says.
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Barron's
Al Root and Jacob Sonenshine
maintain
2025-12-24
Reason
Barron's
Al Root and Jacob Sonenshine
Price Target
2025-12-24
maintain
Reason
The software sector has been whipsawed over the past few years, but Salesforce can rally as AI fears fade and the company's management demonstrates commitment to improving profitability, Barron's Al Root and Jacob Sonenshine write in the publication's Stock Picks column. Last year, the stock had traded at 9-times expected forward sales, but Salesforce valuation currently stands at under six-times expected 2026 after a 30% pullback from all-time highs, the report states. Investors pricing in a "CRM demise" is too bearish, with Agentforce gaining traction as seen in its 330% annual recurring revenue growth reported in the latest Q3 numbers, Barron's writes.
BTIG
Allan Verkhovski
initiated
$335
2025-12-16
Reason
BTIG
Allan Verkhovski
Price Target
$335
2025-12-16
initiated
Reason
BTIG analyst Allan Verkhovski initiated coverage of Salesforce with a Buy rating and $335 price target.
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.
