FILE PHOTO: A logo of Salesforce is seen at its exhibition space, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
(Reuters) - Salesforce shares climbed about 11% to a record high on Wednesday after the customer relationship management software maker topped quarterly sales estimates and provided an upbeat forecast for its newly launched AI-integrated products.
The company is banking on Agentforce to reenergize its growth as tech firms tap into rising demand for AI agents that can autonomously complete tasks.
"We came away more confident about CRM's initial success driving its Agentforce AI agent builder platform across the enterprise space," said Angelo Zino, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that it would drive upside by the second half of next year and in 2026.
On a post-earnings call on Tuesday, Salesforce executives said even though Agentforce was made generally available in late October, it delivered 200 deals. They also projected a strong pipeline of deals.
Salesforce hit a record high of $368.7 in early morning trading and is set to add more than $35 billion to its market valuation of $316.85 billion if gains hold. At least 20 analysts raised their price targets on the stock, according to LSEG data.
The stock has gained about 26% this year through the last close, and the new median price target of $380 represents an about 15% upside.
The optimistic expectations also buoyed other U.S. cloud companies. Oracle gained 3.2%, ServiceNow 3.5%, while Datadog and Snowflake both rose 4%.
Salesforce now expects fiscal year 2025 revenue between $37.8 billion and $38 billion, compared with its prior forecast range of $37.7 billion to $38 billion.
Third-quarter revenue rose 8% to $9.44 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $9.35 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
"We like the setup heading into FY'26 given reasonable Street expectations, positive progress made around the company's AI strategy, and potential upside as front-office spending comes back," Baird Equity Research analysts said.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
