Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is expanding its AI monetization strategy while targeting stronger revenue growth, higher customer spending and continued shareholder returns.
BNP Sees Revenue Reacceleration Ahead
BNP Paribas analyst Stefan Slowinski came away from Salesforce’s Dreamforce Conference and Investor Day “incrementally positive,” citing accelerating new business activity relative to existing contract values.
He expects those trends to support a revenue reacceleration beginning in the third quarter.
BNP Paribas maintained a $265 price forecast, representing about 6% upside from Salesforce’s Sept. 16 price of $250.50.
Salesforce kept its fiscal 2030 revenue outlook at $63 billion, including Informatica. Slowinski said discussions with management suggested confidence and visibility around reaching that target have improved since last year.
Agentforce Creates Multiple Monetization Paths
Slowinski highlighted Salesforce’s growing range of Agentforce pricing models, including per-seat subscriptions, usage-based pricing, hybrid models and outcome-based pricing.
He sees upgrades to the AIforce Max+ tier, priced at $550 per user per month, as the clearest near-term opportunity.
Only about 5% of customers had upgraded, while management indicated the sales team plans to push upgrades more aggressively.
Customer conversations also suggested Agentforce deployments are gaining momentum despite continued confusion around pricing.
One partner cited a financial-services customer whose Salesforce renewal rose from roughly $3 million-$5 million to $14 million after a broader Agentforce deployment.
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Buybacks Support Shareholder Returns
Slowinski also highlighted Salesforce’s $25 billion accelerated share repurchase program.
Management expects to complete the program at an average price of roughly $182 per share, reducing the share count by more than 14% and generating a return above 40% based on the current stock price cited in the report.
BNP also expects Salesforce’s AI monetization opportunity to expand further as consumption and outcome-based pricing gain traction over time.
Top ETF Exposure
- iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV): 6.60% Weight
- First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSE:FDN): 6.11% Weight
- Invesco BuyBack Achievers ETF (NASDAQ:PKW): 6.53% Weight
Significance: Because CRM carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.
CRM Stock Price Activity: Salesforce shares were trading higher by 0.12% at $243.14 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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