Salesforce shares gained on Monday after Bank of America Securities issued a rare double-upgrade, lifting CRM from Underperform to Buy and raising its price target to $285 from $160. The revision, published October 12, marks a sharp reversal from the bank’s May 18, 2026, call, when analyst Tal Liani warned that artificial intelligence could structurally disrupt enterprise software. On Monday, CRM rose as much as 5.1% to an intraday high of $240.90 before settling at $232.52, up 1.48% from Friday’s close.
Liani now argues that AI is more likely to deepen enterprise reliance on established platforms than displace them. “If anything, AI should deepen dependence on these platforms,” he wrote. Bank of America highlighted Salesforce’s integrated AI stack—including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Agentforce, Slack, and the Anthropic-powered Claudeforce offering—as a key reason for the more constructive view. The bank also raised subscription and support revenue growth estimates to 10.4% for fiscal 2028 and 10.5% for fiscal 2029, from 9.9% and 10.2%, respectively. Its new target implies roughly 24.4% upside from Friday’s close and values CRM at about 16 times projected 2027 free cash flow, compared with nine times previously.
Salesforce separately announced a definitive agreement to acquire Loops, an AI-powered analytics startup that tracks business performance, explains metric changes, and recommends actions. The technology will be integrated into Tableau to support agentic analytics. The deal is expected to close in early November, subject to customary conditions; financial terms were not disclosed. Mark Recher, Tableau’s executive vice president and general manager, said Loops “accelerates this mission, using powerful agentic AI to uncover the drivers behind business performance.”
The upgrade is underpinned by accelerating AI revenue: Salesforce reported Agentforce annual recurring revenue above $1.5 billion for the fiscal second quarter ended July 31, 2026, up more than 240% year over year. Combined Agentforce and Data 360 ARR approached $3.9 billion, up more than 210%. While AI-related revenue remains a relatively small share of overall sales, quarterly revenue reached $11.3 billion, an 11% annual increase. For investors, the next earnings report will test whether the AI-driven rebound—and BofA’s reversal—is supported by sustained commercial growth.
