Software Stocks Continue to Decline: Two Areas Where Insiders Are Investing in the Dip.
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 26 2026
0mins
Should l Buy CRM?
Source: Barron's
- Current Market Situation: Software stocks have experienced a challenging period recently, leading to a decline in their value.
- Insider Activity: Despite the downturn, insiders in the software sector are seizing the opportunity to purchase shares at lower prices, particularly in a company that has been significantly affected.
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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: 167.580
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
Current: 167.580
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.
- Significant Revenue Growth: Klaviyo reported Q1 2026 revenue of $358 million, reflecting a 28% year-over-year increase, indicating strong performance in the consumer brand CRM market and presenting a potential buying opportunity for investors.
- Customer Base Expansion: The customer count grew to approximately 196,000, with net revenue retention rising by 2 points to 110%, demonstrating that existing customers are increasing their spending, which enhances the company's revenue stability.
- Share Buyback Implementation: Klaviyo announced a $500 million share repurchase authorization alongside the completion of a $100 million accelerated buyback, signaling a strong financial position and a transition towards a more stable financial model.
- Market Competition Risks: Despite a 39% growth in international markets, Klaviyo's customer base remains concentrated in the Shopify ecosystem, meaning any significant changes at Shopify could pose challenges, while competition from Salesforce and HubSpot continues to intensify.
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- New Tax Proposal: California Governor Gavin Newsom is considering a 7.25% sales tax on cloud-based software sales, which could impact major vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce, and Adobe, with an expected revenue of $1.1 billion in the first year and over $2 billion in subsequent years.
- Fairness Debate: Newsom highlighted the disparity where consumers buying pre-written software pay sales tax while those downloading online do not, raising concerns about tax fairness that could lead to public opposition against the new tax policy.
- Taxation in Other States: Approximately two dozen states already tax software as a service (SaaS), but some offer discounts or exemptions for businesses, such as Connecticut's 1% tax rate for companies, which may influence the implementation of California's proposal.
- Market Reaction: This proposal could significantly affect the cloud software market, particularly for AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, prompting investors to monitor stock price fluctuations and potential impacts on future revenues.
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- Short Selling Strategy: As short sellers increasingly focus on the AI bubble, Joyce Meng highlights that many companies are hastily rebranding to attract investment, which could lead to stock price collapses, particularly for those claiming to possess AI technology.
- Rezolve AI Case: Meng specifically mentions Rezolve AI, which rebranded in 2023, and after thorough research, she predicts a 60% drop in its stock price, indicating multiple risks in its business model.
- Nvidia Risks: Culper Research's short position on Nvidia reveals that despite the company's dominant market position, its ties to China pose significant risks, especially as over 20% of its revenue remains linked to China following U.S. export restrictions.
- Market Bubble Warning: Many analysts draw parallels between the current AI frenzy and the internet bubble, emphasizing that while technological transformations are significant, they do not guarantee success for all related companies, reminding investors to remain vigilant based on historical lessons.
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- Significant Contract Value: Salesforce has been awarded a $72 million enterprise license agreement by the U.S. Air Force, aimed at consolidating its various point solutions into a single platform, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and management capabilities.
- Strategic Partnership Context: This contract is part of a larger $5.6 billion agreement signed with the Department of Defense, which was discussed during Salesforce's fiscal Q4 earnings call, highlighting the company's potential for expansion in the government sector.
- Market Reaction: Despite securing this major contract, Salesforce shares fell 0.7% in premarket trading, reflecting market caution regarding the company's future performance, possibly linked to the upcoming Q1 earnings report.
- AI Platform Utilization: Merck & Co. has selected Salesforce's AI CRM to develop a 360° animal health platform, further demonstrating Salesforce's competitiveness and market demand in AI and industry-specific solutions.
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- Rise of Subscription Model: Salesforce introduced the concept of software rental in 1999, transforming the traditional one-time purchase model into a monthly billing system, which significantly enhanced customer retention and revenue stability by promoting acceptance of more flexible upgrade paths.
- Adobe's Transformation: In 2013, Adobe announced the discontinuation of Creative Suite DVDs in favor of the Creative Cloud subscription service, which, despite initial user backlash, ultimately led to predictable revenue streams and a stock price increase of threefold from 2013 to 2015, setting a benchmark for the industry.
- Diverse Billing Models: With the rise of cloud computing, companies like Amazon AWS adopted a pay-as-you-go billing model, allowing businesses to pay based on actual usage of computing power and storage, which, while enhancing cost efficiency, introduced budgeting uncertainties for finance teams.
- Future Hybrid Billing: By 2026, software billing is expected to blend base subscriptions, per-seat fees, and usage charges, requiring companies to balance predictable base payments with variable components to adapt to evolving market demands.
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- Outstanding Stock Performance: Since being removed from the Dow on August 31, 2020, ExxonMobil has achieved a staggering 373% total return, demonstrating its strong recovery capability amid market volatility and attracting increased investor interest.
- Successful Strategic Adjustments: In its corporate plan released in 2025, ExxonMobil expects to achieve $25 billion in earnings growth and $35 billion in cash flow growth by 2030, indicating a focus on sustainable development through efficiency improvements rather than capital expenditures.
- High Return on Investment: ExxonMobil forecasts a return on capital employed exceeding 17% by 2030, with cumulative surplus cash flow projected to reach $145 billion under the assumption of $65 Brent crude oil prices, further enhancing its financial robustness.
- Dividend Stability: With 43 consecutive years of dividend increases, ExxonMobil stands out as a favored high-dividend stock for investors, reflecting its stability and attractiveness in uncertain market conditions.
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