Salesforce Stock (CRM) Climbs Despite a Street-Low Price Target from a Top Analyst

Salesforce (CRM) stock was on the rise Monday after a top Wall Street analyst reinstated coverage of the customer relationship management technology company’s shares. Five-star Bank of America analyst Tal Liani assigned CRM stock a Sell rating and a $160 price target, suggesting a possible 11.2% downside for the shares. Liani also has the lowest price target for CRM stock among his peers.

According to Liani, Salesforce faces a structural reset due to the rise of AI, rather than a cyclical movement. The analyst argued that CRM is “evolving into a saturated mission-critical system of record, rather than a platform capable of incremental growth monetization.” He also said that the reach of Salesforce’s Agentforce remains limited despite its 23,000 customers and $800 million in annual recurring revenue.

Liani also pointed out that Salesforce faces increased competition in the customer relationship management sector. Rivals in the space include ServiceNow (NOW) and Alphabet (GOOGL)’s Google. The analyst claimed that, “While these players often target different subsegments, the net effect is greater overlap, and potential pressure on growth and pricing power.”

Salesforce Stock Movement Today

Salesforce stock was up 3.42% on Monday despite the bearish coverage from Liani. However, the stock has fallen 32.09% year-to-date and 39.68% over the past 12 months.

CRM stock trading activity today was muted at 3.42 million shares, compared to a three-month average daily trading volume of about 13.35 million shares.

Is Salesforce Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Salesforce is Moderate Buy, based on 27 Buy, eight Hold, and two Sell ratings over the past three months. With that comes an average CRM stock price target of $260.84, representing a potential 45% upside for the shares.