Key Takeaways:
- Salesforce reports fiscal Q2 2027 earnings Aug. 26 after market close
- Wall Street expects EPS of $3.27 on revenue of $11.33 billion, up 10.6%
- Stock trades at 14.05x forward earnings, below the software industry's 27.66x
Geri
Salesforce heads into Q2 earnings with 10.6% revenue growth expected
Salesforce Inc. reports fiscal second-quarter 2027 earnings after the market close on Aug. 26, with Wall Street expecting revenue of $11.33 billion, up 10.6% from a year earlier, as investors weigh whether AI-driven demand can push growth back into double digits.
"We are comfortable with our estimates," Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz said, pointing to strong net new Agentforce and Data Cloud annual recurring revenue based on partner checks. He reiterated a Buy rating and $250 price target, and said 13% to 14% cRPO growth in Q3 would support the case for revenue reacceleration in the second half of fiscal 2027.
The consensus calls for adjusted earnings per share of $3.27, up 12.4% from $2.91 in the year-ago quarter, according to TipRanks data. Salesforce guided Q2 EPS in a range of $3.25 to $3.27 and full-year fiscal 2027 EPS of $14.060 to $14.120. The company has beaten EPS estimates in seven of the past eight quarters and revenue in six of eight, with an average EPS surprise of 17.3% over the trailing four quarters.
Shares closed at $206.09 on Aug. 19, up 5.07%, after Cantor Fitzgerald's Matthew VanVliet reiterated an Overweight rating with a $250 target and called fears that AI would hurt Salesforce's business "overblown." The stock remains down 21% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Internet-Software industry's 4.1% decline, as investors worry about slowing enterprise software demand.
Agentforce momentum and valuation frame the debate
The bull case rests on Agentforce adoption. Combined AI and Data ARR, including Agentforce, Data 360 and Informatica Cloud, reached $3.4 billion in fiscal Q1 2027, more than tripling from a year earlier, with Agentforce alone generating $1.2 billion in recurring revenue, up 205%. Nearly half of Agentforce and Data 360 bookings came from existing customers, showing cross-selling traction.
At the current price, CRM trades at 14.05 times forward 12-month earnings, a discount to the software industry's 27.66 times and to peers Microsoft Corp., SAP SE and ServiceNow Inc., which trade at 24.16, 23.99 and 27.60 times, respectively. GuruFocus pegs fair value at $332.57, implying the stock is 38% undervalued, while the consensus price target of $249.49 points to roughly 21% upside from the Aug. 19 close.
Options traders expect an 8.01% move in either direction after the report, above CRM's average post-earnings move of 3.33% over the past four quarters, according to TipRanks' options tool. Salesforce returned $28 billion to shareholders in a recent quarter through buybacks and other capital-return mechanisms, with free cash flow at an annual yield of 8.8%.
The report will hinge on cRPO growth and Q3 revenue guidance, the key datapoints for whether the shares can close the gap to the consensus target. A beat that keeps revenue growth above 10% and EPS inside the $3.25 to $3.27 band would give numerical support to the reacceleration thesis; softer cRPO and guidance would refocus attention on execution and competitive pressure in core CRM markets.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
