Why Salesforce Stock Was Sliding Today
Key Points
Salesforce fell alongside other software stocks.
A new product from Claude and a viral tale of AI disruption led to another sell-off in the SaaS sector.
Two Wall Street analysts lowered their price targets on the stock, but maintained their buy ratings.
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Shares of Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) were falling today in line with a broader retreat in software stocks and with major indexes down more than 1%.
The only company-specific news out on Salesforce came from a pair of analysts lowering their price targets on the stock. However, flaring trade tensions, a new Anthropic product called "Claude Code Security," and a dystopian blog post detailing an AI depression in 2028 all weighed on the stock.
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The stock closed down 3.8% on the news.
Image source: Getty Images.
Salesforce's troubles continue
Salesforce stock hit a 52-week low on the news, though its performance was actually ahead of the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (NYSEMKT: IGV), which finished down 4.8%.
The reason for the bloodbath in the software sector, which included Salesforce, seemed to be a well-circulated blog post from Citrini Research, which described a scenario in 2028 where unemployment had topped 10% and the software sector unraveled.
While the reaction to the post seems exaggerated, it did capture the zeitgeist around software and AI and spelled out the scenario that the recent software sell-off seems to be anticipating.
Additionally, two Wall Street analysts lowered their price targets on the stock, but maintained buy ratings. The action reflected the sharp downturn in Salesforce in recent months, as the stock is down 33% year-to-date.
What's next for Salesforce
Salesforce was one of the first cloud software stocks, and is generally viewed as a bellwether in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry, so it's not surprising to see it fall with the rest of the sector.
However, there's still little evidence of AI disruption in reports from these companies. We'll get an up-close look on Tuesday afternoon when Salesforce reports fourth-quarter earnings.
Analysts are expecting a 12% increase in revenue to $11.2 billion and for adjusted earnings per share to increase from $2.78 to $3.05. The company is likely to face plenty of questions on what the AI threat means and if it's seeing any disruptive impact.
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Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Salesforce. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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