What's Going On With Salesforce Stock Today?

Salesforce Inc CRM shares are trading lower Thursday despite reporting strong quarterly results. Several analysts also lifted price targets on the stock following the print.

What Happened: Salesforce said first-quarter revenue increased 11% year-over-year to $8.25 billion, which beat consensus estimates of $8.18 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.69 per share, which beat estimates of $1.61 per share.

Cash flow from operations was up 22% year-over-year and free cash flow was up 21%. Salesforce said it repurchased $2.1 billion of its stock in the first quarter.

"Salesforce significantly exceeded our non-GAAP margin target for the quarter — up 1,000 basis points year-over-year, and we are raising our FY24 non-GAAP operating margin guidance to a 550 basis point increase year-over-year," said Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce.

"At the same time, we are leading the next major revolution in CRM — infusing trusted, secure generative AI across our entire product portfolio. Salesforce's generative AI ecosystem wields Einstein GPT, Slack GPT, and Tableau GPT, delivering trusted power across our product portfolio."

Salesforce sees second-quarter revenue in a range of $8.51 billion to $8.53 billion versus estimates of $8.49 billion. The company expects second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.80 to $1.90 per share versus estimates of $1.70 per share. 

Salesforce expects full-year revenue to be between $34.5 billion and $34.7 billion versus estimates of $34.65 billion. The company sees full-year adjusted earnings between $7.41 and $7.43 per share versus estimates of $7.14 per share. 

Analyst Changes:

• Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin maintained Salesforce with an Overweight and raised the price target from $230 to $248.
• Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler maintained Salesforce with an Underperform and raised the price target from $145 to $153.
• Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz maintained Salesforce with an Outperform and raised the price target from $225 to $235.
• JMP Securities analyst Patrick Walravens maintained Salesforce with a Market Outperform and raised the price target from $250 to $275.
• TD Cowen analyst J. Derrick Wood maintained Salesforce with an Outperform and raised the price target from $200 to $210.
• Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss maintained Salesforce with an Overweight and raised the price target from $240 to $251.
• BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman maintained Salesforce with an Outperform and raised the price target from $230 to $245.

See Also: Salesforce Gets Price Target Hikes By Analysts After Q1 Results

CRM Price Action: Salesforce shares were down 6.35% at $209.20 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Salesforce.