Salesforce Stock Surges on Strong Earnings and AI Momentum
Salesforce stock continues to hold strong after the company's recent earnings beat. The stock price is currently trading around $256 per share, up more than 22% over the past week and representing one of the strongest movers among large U.S. companies.
The catalyst for this surge was Salesforce's fiscal second-quarter 2027 results, which showed a significant beat on adjusted earnings and a solid acceleration in key cloud metrics. Revenue reached $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year-over-year, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) reached $5.90, far above consensus forecasts.
However, the strong profit print has some nuance. A detailed analysis notes that investment gains tied to Salesforce's stake in AI firm Anthropic contributed materially to adjusted EPS, with an estimated $2.7 billion unrealized gain linked to Anthropic. Backing out these investment gains leaves underlying EPS closer to $3.37, which still beats consensus by roughly 3%.
Guidance has added fuel to the rally, with Salesforce issuing fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $16.67 to $16.71 and Q3 fiscal 2027 guidance of $3.42 to $3.44 per share. Analysts anticipate Salesforce will post around $12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Despite the strong earnings and guidance, not all analysts have moved to a fully bullish stance, with some maintaining more neutral ratings while still lifting their targets. The mix of higher price targets and cautious ratings highlights a key investor debate: whether the current share price already discounts most of the AI upside or whether the acceleration in AI/Data ARR and bookings can justify further multiple expansion.
Salesforce is expanding its Agentforce and Data 360 platforms to support AI-powered business tools, while gradually shifting towards more usage-based software models as AI agents play a larger role in customer workflows. The company's pipeline strength and AI metrics underpin guidance, with current remaining performance obligations increasing 14% from the prior year and net new annual order value reaching its highest level in four years.