Salesforce Shares Drop Amid Analyst Downgrades and Broader Software Sell-Off
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Feb 23 2026
0mins
Source: Fool
- Stock Decline: Salesforce shares fell 3.8% today, closing at $178.16, reflecting the broader software stock retreat and the impact of analysts lowering their price targets, indicating market concerns about the company's future performance.
- Analyst Rating Changes: Despite two Wall Street analysts lowering their price targets, they maintained buy ratings, suggesting confidence in Salesforce's long-term potential, although the stock's 33% decline year-to-date raises short-term concerns.
- Uncertain Industry Outlook: Salesforce's stock hit a 52-week low, although it outperformed the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF, which dropped 4.8%, highlighting the pressure and uncertainty facing the software sector as a whole.
- Upcoming Earnings Report: Salesforce is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, with analysts expecting a 12% revenue increase to $11.2 billion and adjusted earnings per share to rise from $2.78 to $3.05, with the market closely watching for any potential AI disruption impacts.
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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: 180.070
Low
223.00
Averages
326.40
High
405.00
Current: 180.070
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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