Salesforce and ServiceNow Initiate Aggressive Stock Buybacks Amid SaaS Sell-Off
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 24 2026
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Source: NASDAQ.COM
- Stock Buyback Program: Salesforce initiated a $50 billion stock buyback program in February 2026, recently commencing the repurchase of half that amount, reflecting management's strong confidence in the company's future and aiming to enhance shareholder value while stabilizing stock prices.
- Growth Expectations: Salesforce achieved record fourth-quarter results and management projects double-digit revenue growth for the current fiscal year, maintaining optimism despite market skepticism regarding AI's potential impact on growth.
- Strong Performance from ServiceNow: ServiceNow reported total revenue of $3.56 billion in Q4, a 20.5% year-over-year increase, and provided robust guidance for the full year 2026, indicating a positive outlook despite recent stock price declines due to the SaaS sell-off.
- AI-Driven Market Opportunities: CEO Bill McDermott emphasized that enterprise AI will be the largest driver of the multitrillion-dollar investment super cycle, making ServiceNow's AI platform increasingly relevant in the current market environment, which further boosts investor confidence.
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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: 179.080
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
Current: 179.080
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.
- Strong Performance: Salesforce's Q1 GAAP EPS reached $2.42, up 52% year-over-year, while non-GAAP EPS was $3.88, up 50%, indicating a significant enhancement in profitability that reinforces its market leadership.
- Revenue Growth: Total revenue for Q1 hit $11.13 billion, a 13% increase year-over-year, with subscription and support revenue at $10.69 billion, up 14%, reflecting robust customer demand and market share expansion.
- Robust Cash Flow: The company reported operating cash flow of $6.7 billion, up 3% year-over-year, and free cash flow of $6.6 billion, up 4%, providing a solid foundation for future investments and shareholder returns.
- Shareholder Returns: Salesforce returned $27.1 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and paid $365 million in dividends, demonstrating a strong commitment to shareholder value alongside its impressive cash flow and profitability.
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- Accenture Facing Challenges: Although Accenture's CFROI is projected to reach 43.7%, its stock has fallen 34% this year, reflecting market concerns over margin pressure and disintermediation risks from emerging AI models, leading to subdued investor sentiment.
- Investment Strategy Recommendations: UBS advises investors to focus on companies with improving cash flow returns and high-quality laggards, emphasizing the potential value of these firms in the software and IT consulting sectors, despite their stock prices having declined by over 5%.
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- Market Outlook: Despite challenges faced by Meta and Microsoft, Cramer remains cautiously optimistic about their future performance, suggesting that these companies could achieve breakthroughs in the evolving AI landscape.
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- Opportunities in Small Caps: Small-cap stocks have performed well amid economic recovery, particularly driven by a resurgence in manufacturing, and if this momentum continues, it could present new growth opportunities for investors, especially given the uncertainty surrounding interest rate policies.
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- Significant Stock Pressure: Salesforce (CRM) has experienced a year-to-date decline of approximately 31.7% in 2026, with shares currently trading near $180, reflecting a reassessment of growth expectations in the tech sector that could impact future financing capabilities.
- Earnings Call Focus: Investors are anticipating that the upcoming earnings call will heavily emphasize discussions around acquisitions, customer consumption trends, and demand for AI-related products, indicating a strong market interest in Salesforce's strategic direction and enterprise spending patterns.
- Market Prediction Signals: According to prediction market Kalshi, there is a 98% chance discussions will center on AgentForce, with acquisition and consumption trends at 87% and 85% respectively, highlighting investor expectations and concerns regarding the company's growth potential.
- Macroeconomic Challenges: The earnings report arrives at a critical moment as Wall Street seeks evidence that Salesforce can reignite growth momentum amidst a challenging macroeconomic backdrop, increasing pressure on the company to deliver positive results.
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- Major Earnings Preview: After the market closes on Wednesday, key companies including Salesforce (CRM), Snowflake (SNOW), Marvell Technology (MRVL), and HP (HPQ) are set to release their earnings reports, drawing significant attention from investors eager to gauge future growth potential.
- Industry Impact: The outcomes of these earnings reports could substantially influence investor sentiment across the tech sector, particularly given the current economic climate where caution prevails regarding the profitability and market outlook of tech stocks.
- Additional Earnings: In addition to the major players, Agilent Technologies (A) and several other companies such as AMSC, BMA, and BRZE are also scheduled to report earnings after Wednesday's close, providing a broader spectrum of market insights.
- Earnings Season Calendar: Seeking Alpha offers a comprehensive earnings season calendar, allowing investors to access information on upcoming earnings releases to make more informed investment decisions.
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