San Francisco, California-based Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is the leading provider of on-demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, connecting companies and customers worldwide. With a market cap of $236.6 billion, the company offers critical services including marketing automation, customer service & support, document management, analytics, etc.

The software giant has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. CRM stock has gained 4.5% over the past 52 weeks and plunged 25.5% on a YTD basis, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 21.1% gains over the past year and 7.9% returns on a YTD basis.

Narrowing the focus, CRM has also underperformed the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLK) 31.1% surge over the past year and 13.1% gains in 2025.

The sharp decline in CRM stock prices in 2025 can be partly attributed to the fears of AI agents reshaping the industry, which may alter the need for Salesforce. Its stock prices dropped 3.3% in the trading session after the release of its Q1 results on May 28. The company has continued to observe healthy growth in subscription and service revenues, leading to a 7.6% year-over-year growth in overall topline to $9.8 billion. Meanwhile, its adjusted EPS grew by a much more modest 5.7% year-over-year to $2.58.

Nevertheless, these figures surpassed the Street’s expectations by a small margin. Investors’ concerns primarily stem from Salesforce’s AI offerings not flaring out as expected.

For the full fiscal 2026, ending in January, analysts expect CRM to deliver an EPS of $8.54, up 8.2% year-over-year. Further, the company has a solid earnings surprise history. It has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters.

The stock has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating overall. Of the 49 analysts covering the stock, opinions include 36 “Strong Buys,” two “Moderate Buys,” nine “Holds,” and two “Strong Sells.”

This configuration is slightly less optimistic than three months ago, when four analysts gave “Moderate Buy” recommendations.

On Jul. 16, Citizens analyst Patrick Walravens reiterated a “Market Outperform” rating on CRM and set a price target of $430.

CRM’s mean price target of $355.24 represents a 42.6% premium. Meanwhile, the Street-high target of $440 suggests a 76.6% upside potential from current price levels.