Salesforce ‘s deepening push into artificial intelligence is showing signs of paying off, and that should continue to benefit its stock, according to Goldman Sachs. The investment bank has a buy rating on the software name. It also has a $271 price target on shares, implying 32% upside from Wednesday’s close. “While there are still several hurdles to navigate as competition evolves, we believe Salesforce is in the early stages of showing success on both product maturity and monetization maturity, and will ultimately be able to capture value through several different avenues in the front office stack,” analyst Gabriela Borges said Wednesday in a note to clients. Shares of Salesforce have gained nearly 16% over the past three months as the company has pivoted to AI, including by scooping up startups in the industry. CRM 3M mountain Shares have popped nearly 16% over the past three months. Salesforce’s shares are up more than 18% following the release of its latest financial results , which proved particularly strong due to the growth of its AI products. Salesforce posted adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, or well above the $3.27 expected by analysts polled by LSEG. It also reported revenue of $11.35 billion — an increase of 11% from the same period a year ago — topping analysts’ consensus estimate of $11.32 billion.Those results were linked, in part, to Salesforce’s $2.6 billion gain on strategic investments from its stake in Anthropic. Meanwhile, the company estimates it will earn $3.42 to $3.44 per share, excluding items, on revenue of between $11.42 billion and $11.50 billion in the fiscal third quarter. The forecast is above the Street’s consensus estimates. “The stock reaction is a function of two dynamics,” Borges wrote. “The core business on track to accelerate … [and there are] signs of progress in [the firm’s] AI strategy.” Goldman Sachs’ call falls in line with consensus on Wall Street. Of the 54 analysts covering Salesforce, 40 have a buy or strong buy on the stock, LSEG data shows.
