Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) shares advanced more than 2% on Monday, buoyed by a Bank of America upgrade and the announcement of a new acquisition aimed at bolstering its AI-driven analytics capabilities. The positive sentiment reflects growing optimism that artificial intelligence will reinforce, rather than disrupt, the company's core software business.
Bank of America Upgrades to Buy
Bank of America analyst Tal Liani raised Salesforce's rating from Underperform to Buy, lifting the price target to $285 from $160. The upgrade is based on the belief that large enterprises will not replace the software platforms that manage their data, workflows, and compliance requirements as they adopt AI. Instead, Liani argues that AI should deepen companies' reliance on existing infrastructure.
“If anything, AI should deepen dependence on these platforms,” Liani said. He sees Salesforce benefiting across the AI value chain, reducing the risk that foundation models will displace its software. Greater platform usage, premium upgrades, and stronger revenue growth could support long-term performance, according to the brokerage.
Bank of America also cited improving business momentum, including growth in net new annualized order value and stronger performance at Slack. The firm raised its subscription and support revenue growth forecasts to 10.4% for fiscal 2028 and 10.5% for fiscal 2029, up from previous estimates of 9.9% and 10.2%, respectively. The revised price target values Salesforce at 16 times expected free cash flow for 2027, compared with nine times previously.
Salesforce to Acquire Loops
Separately, Salesforce announced a definitive agreement to acquire Loops, an AI-powered analytics platform that uses machine learning to monitor business performance, explain changes in key metrics, and identify improvement opportunities. The acquisition is intended to advance Salesforce's strategy for agentic analytics, which employs AI agents to help customers understand the drivers behind business results and determine appropriate actions.
Salesforce plans to integrate Loops' technology into Tableau, its data visualization and analytics platform. Mark Recher, executive vice president and general manager of Tableau, said the acquisition builds on the platform's focus on helping users interpret data and make decisions. “Loops accelerates this mission, using powerful agentic AI to uncover the drivers behind business performance and surface where teams and agents can take action in real time,” Recher said. The transaction is expected to close in early November next year.
AI Adoption Remains a Key Test
The BofA upgrade highlights an important aspect of Salesforce's AI strategy: increasing the value of its existing software platforms and expanding the use of AI agents to analyze business data. The brokerage expects improving order growth and Slack performance to support stronger revenue expansion in the coming quarters. Its forecasts point to a gradual acceleration in subscription and support revenue growth through fiscal 2029.
However, the financial contribution from AI remains an important uncertainty. If customers adopt Salesforce's AI tools more slowly than expected, the anticipated boost to revenue growth could take longer to materialize. Liani identified slower-than-expected AI adoption as a near-term risk, noting that AI-related revenue remains small relative to Salesforce's overall business.
Salesforce shares have declined about 14% in 2026 amid concerns that wider AI adoption could reduce demand for traditional software tools. The upgrade reflects expectations that the company's AI initiatives, including its Agentforce platform of autonomous agents, could help attract more customers and support a return to faster growth. According to LSEG data, 36 of the 51 analysts covering Salesforce have Buy or Strong Buy ratings.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
