Salesforce's AI Strategy Is 'Firming Up': 4 Analysts On Q1 Print, Outlook

Shares of Salesforce Inc CRM tanked in early trading on Thursday, despite the company reporting upbeat revenues and earnings for its first quarter.

The report came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the earnings release.

Piper Sandler On Salesforce

Analyst Brent Bracelin maintained an Overweight rating, while raising the price target from $230 to $248.

Salesforce reported earnings growth ahead of Street expectations and raised its full-year operating margin guidance, which “reinforces the commitment to cost optimization efforts and improving profitability against a challenging macro,” Bracelin said.

“The Gen AI strategy appears to be firming up, with a formal AI investor event, product demos, and new innovations scheduled to be hosted in New York on Monday, June 12,” he added.

Mizuho Securities On Salesforce

Analyst Gregg Moskowitz reiterated a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $225 to $240.

While Salesforce’s first-quarter results were “solid,” its second-quarter guidance was “subdued and only in line with consensus,” Moskowitz wrote in a note. “More importantly, we continue to believe CRM's outlook signals a new chapter dictated by profitable growth above all else,” he added.

“Mgmt noted strong early interest in its GenAI products, and we expect this will drive much greater automation, along with better sales productivity,” the analyst said.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Needham On Salesforce

Analyst Scott Berg reaffirmed a Buy rating and price target of $230.

Salesforce’s operating margins were “10pts higher Y/Y at 27.6%, led by S&M expense that was 500bps lower,” Berg wrote in a note.

”While incremental softness in domestic U.S. sales weighed on reiterated full-year revenue guidance, the 1pt increase in the operating margin from 27% to 28% is at least in line with expectations and is a clear signal the company is more committed to its 30% target than prior financial discussions,” he added.

Oppenheimer On Salesforce

Analyst Brian Schwartz maintained an Outperform rating and price target of $235.

Salesforce delivered “mixed” results for the quarter, which “overcame a low bar” and raised its full-year operating margin, EPS and cash-flow guidance, Schwartz said.

Macro headwinds and business transformation initiatives “impacted the sales execution in F1Q, and left a large decel in the F2Q CRPO billings growth guidance (5% versus 12% in F1Q) despite an easier y/y comparison,” the analyst wrote. “Also, the CRPO and revenue upside in F1Q didn't yield a higher FY2024 revenue guidance which implies a softer top line view for F2Q-F4Q:2024 versus three months ago,” he added.

CRM Price Action: Shares of Salesforce had declined by 4.48% to $213.38 at the time of publishing Thursday.

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