Shares of Salesforce (CRM) climbed about 3% in pre-market trading on Monday, changing hands near $237 and up roughly 3.5% from Friday's close of $229.13.

The move was driven by BofA Securities, which raised its rating on the software company by two notches, from Underperform to Buy, while lifting its price target from $160 to $285. The double upgrade reversed the bearish call the bank issued in May 2026. The new target sits well above the stock's 52-week high of $269.11, underscoring how sharply the bank's stance has swung.

Why BofA Changed Its View

The earlier negative rating rested on fears that artificial intelligence could displace Salesforce's software. To test that thesis, BofA analysts spoke with chief technology officers at major companies. Those CTOs said replacing Salesforce platforms is highly unlikely, noting that the systems hold business logic, data pipelines, workflows and compliance frameworks that are difficult to migrate. Their answers pointed to how deeply the software is embedded in day-to-day operations. The feedback offers a direct read on a question that has hung over the enterprise software industry: whether AI tools will displace incumbent platforms or deepen customers' reliance on them.

Salesforce's Agentforce AI platform, the company's suite for building and deploying AI agents, has added to the case. Annual recurring revenue from AI-related products passed $1.5 billion in the most recent quarter, with Agentforce contributing to the growth.

Separately, an insider filing (Form 4) was submitted on October 11. The details were not part of the reports. Form 4 filings are the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosures used to report changes in insider ownership.

Analyst Views and Recent Results

Wall Street was already leaning positive before Monday's move. According to MarketBeat, three analysts rate the stock Strong Buy, 30 rate it Buy, 14 rate it Hold and three rate it Sell. The consensus price target stands at $275.14, and roughly 79% of analysts hold buy-equivalent ratings. Against Friday's close of $229.13, the consensus target sits about 20% higher, while BofA's new $285 target is roughly 24% above it.

Recent target revisions include:

• BMO Capital Markets raised its target from $250 to $285 on September 17.
• Argus lifted its target from $290 to $300 in late August.
• Wells Fargo moved its target from $230 to $250 with an equal weight rating.
• Wall Street Zen cut the stock from Buy to Hold on August 1.

Salesforce reported earnings on August 26. Earnings per share came in at $5.90, well above the $3.27 estimate. Revenue rose 10.8% from a year earlier to $11.35 billion, ahead of the $11.33 billion analysts had expected.

The company has guided to fiscal 2027 earnings per share of $16.67 to $16.71. It paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 on October 8, a yield of 0.8%.

Insider and Institutional Activity

Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares on September 4 at an average price of $260.61, a sale worth about $1.17 million. Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares on September 18 at $239.33, a purchase worth about $999,000.

Institutions own 80.43% of the stock. Central Bank & Trust raised its stake by 67.9% in the third quarter to 6,787 shares.

Market Context

The stock closed Friday at $229.13, according to Investing.com. MarketBeat showed it trading at $228.47 during Friday's session, with a 50-day moving average of $225.66. The 200-day average sits at $192.67, and the 52-week range runs from $146.32 to $269.11. Salesforce's market capitalization stood at $188.03 billion as of Friday.

Broader US futures were mixed early Monday, with the S&P 500 and Dow up 0.1% and the Nasdaq down 0.1%. Attention now turns to macroeconomic data: the September CPI report, due Wednesday, October 14, is being watched for clues on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

Source: CoinCentral