Is Salesforce Stock Underperforming the S&P 500?

Is Salesforce Stock Underperforming the S&P 500?

Mon, August 31, 2026 at 4:04 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• CRM +0.22%
• ^GSPC -0.71%

With a market cap of $209.7 billion, Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) technology company that helps businesses connect with customers across the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It serves a wide range of industries including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, and government sectors.

Companies valued at $200 billion or more are generally classified as "mega-cap" stocks, and Salesforce fits this criterion perfectly. The company provides AI-powered solutions such as Agentforce, Data 360, Informatica, and Slack, enabling organizations to automate processes, manage data, and improve collaboration across sales, service, marketing, and commerce operations.

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Shares of the San Francisco, California-based company have dipped 6.2% from its 52-week high of $269.11. Over the past three months, shares of Salesforce have increased 45.3%, exceeding the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) nearly 2% gain during the same period.

The technology giant's stock has declined 3.4% on a YTD basis, underperforming SPX's 12.7% return. In the longer term, shares of Salesforce have risen marginally over the past 52 weeks, compared to the 18.6% gain of the SPX over the same time frame.

Yet, the stock has been trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since July.

Salesforce shares jumped 22.6% following its Q2 2027 results on Aug. 26. The company raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $46.1 billion - $46.4 billion, signaling stronger-than-expected AI-driven demand from Agentforce, Data 360 and Slack. Adjusted EPS more than doubled to $5.90, helped by a $2.53 per share gain from strategic investments, strong operations and share buybacks, and quarterly revenue grew 11% to $11.35 billion.

Investor confidence was further boosted by Salesforce's expanded partnership with Anthropic, including the new "Claudeforce" AI integration, and a sharp increase in fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS guidance to $16.67 - $16.71.

In comparison, rival Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER) has lagged behind CRM stock. UBER stock has declined 17.9% over the past 52 weeks and 3.5% on a YTD basis.

Despite Salesforce's underperformance relative to the SPX over the past year, analysts are moderately optimistic about its prospects. It has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the 53 analysts covering the stock, and the mean price target of $272.50 is a premium of 6.4% to current levels.

On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com