Feb 25 (Reuters) - Salesforce forecast fiscal 2027 revenue below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, signaling sluggish spending on enterprise business software as it invests heavily in its artificial intelligence platform to drive up demand.
Shares of the San Francisco-based company fell more than 5% in extended trading, having lost over 28% this year.
It expects annual revenue in the range of $45.80 billion to $46.20 billion, with the midpoint coming in slightly below an estimate of $46.06 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The forecast shows that demand for business software has remained under pressure from global economic uncertainty as companies pare back tech budgets, choosing to focus on essential spending and cost-cutting.
As Salesforce pours billions into machine learning, investors are worried that the development of new technology from startups could disrupt traditional software operations.
"Against the backdrop of concerns about AI eating software-as-a-service, Salesforce needs to show it is continuing to translate early AI traction into broader enterprise adoption," Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of industry analyst firm Valoir, said.
To solidify its market position, Salesforce must show how customers are moving AI agents from pilots to production at scale, Wettemann added.
The cloud software provider raised its 2030 revenue forecast to $63 billion, up from its October projection of more than $60 billion, citing agentic AI as a catalyst for growth.
It also announced a $50 billion share repurchase program.
Salesforce sees first-quarter revenue in the range of $11.03 billion to $11.08 billion, while analysts expect $10.99 billion.
The company reported revenue of $11.20 billion for the fourth quarter ended January 31, coming in slightly ahead of an estimate of $11.18 billion.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)
