Street View: Salesforce's AI tools gain traction, but outlook hurts stock

Salesforce CRM.N projected Q3 revenue below Wall St expectations on Wednesday, reflecting slower-than-anticipated monetization of its flagship AI agent platform as clients curb spending amid persistent macroeconomic uncertainty

Shares down 7.3% in premarket trading on Thursday

AI AMBITIONS VS CRM REALITIES

J.P.Morgan ("overweight," PT: $365) says Salesforce's Q2 results were strong and its AI tools are gaining traction, showing steady growth ahead. It thinks the stock is undervalued, even though some investors worry AI might hurt traditional software models

Barclays ("overweight," PT: $316) says "Agentforce seems to be seeing more adoption but numbers remain small and hence, investors need to be patient"

Wedbush ("outperform," PT: $375) says Salesforce has strong long-term potential in AI through its Agentforce strategy, however, they want to see better performance in its core Customer Relationship Management (CRM) business while it continues investing heavily in AI and data

TD Cowen ("buy," PT: $335) says Salesforce had a solid quarter, but the stock fell due to weak guidance and lingering AI disruption concerns, though they still view the valuation as attractive and expect stronger AI-driven growth in Q4