Salesforce lifts AI growth view as earnings boost investor confidence

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Salesforce lifts AI growth view

Highlights

Salesforce quarterly revenue rose 11% year-over-year and forecasted about 12% growth, slightly beating analyst expectations, pushing shares up nearly 23%.
Annualized revenue from Salesforce’s Agentforce AI products surged 240% to over $1.5 billion, driven by expanding demand and the new Claudeforce partnership with Anthropic.
A $2.6 billion gain from Salesforce's Anthropic investment boosted earnings, with further upside possible if Anthropic proceeds with its anticipated IPO.

Earnings beat and AI momentum

As reported by CNBC, Salesforce says quarterly revenue rises 11% from a year earlier, beating estimates, while its forecast for the current period points to about 12% growth at the midpoint, also slightly ahead of expectations.

Investors respond by sending Salesforce shares up nearly 23%, the stock’s second-biggest gain since the company went public in 2004 and its strongest one-day rise since 2020. The rally wipes out most of the shares’ losses for the year, although the stock remains down about 5%.

The company also highlights expanding demand for its AI offerings. Annualized revenue from Salesforce’s Agentforce products jumps 240% from a year earlier to more than $1.5 billion, while a new partnership with Anthropic, branded "Claudeforce," adds to the company’s AI push.

Executive returns and market implications

Salesforce’s results arrive as reports emerge that senior OpenAI employees are joining the company, reinforcing management’s effort to show that it remains competitive in the race for AI talent. A Salesforce spokesperson says “boomerang talent is a celebrated part of our culture,” underscoring the company’s message that returning executives can strengthen its product and strategy.

Chief Executive Marc Benioff has consistently argued that AI complements rather than replaces customer relationship management software. He tells CNBC’s Jim Cramer that “frontier models depend on CRM,” pushing back against what he calls a “SaaSpocalypse” narrative around software vendors.

Salesforce’s bottom line also gets support from a $2.6 billion gain tied to its investment in Anthropic. That contribution could increase further if Anthropic moves ahead with a widely anticipated initial public offering, giving Salesforce another financial tailwind as it expands its AI business.

Anthropic’s June model access restrictions highlighted a new risk for AI investors: regulators can abruptly interrupt access to advanced systems, potentially undermining revenue forecasts even when demand and infrastructure plans look strong. Our publication previously noted that this “regulatory gate” adds uncertainty for frontier AI providers and could push some global customers to favor vendors offering clearer jurisdictional control over model availability.

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