Latest news with #Tableau
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Salesforce Is Paying $8 Billion for 'the Plumbing of AI'
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) announced Tuesday that it will acquire Informatica (NYSE:INFA) in a cash deal valued at approximately $8 billion. The acquisition underscores Salesforce's intent to bolster its artificial intelligence capabilities by integrating a core player in enterprise data management. Under the terms of the deal, holders of Informatica's Class A and Class B-1 common stock will receive $25 per share — an 11% premium over the company's closing price of $22.55 on Friday, TechCrunch reported. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Informatica CEO Amit Walia framed the acquisition as a shared effort to bring data and AI to life, describing Informatica in a statement as the plumbing for AI and data. Informatica's Intelligent Data Management Cloud platform helps enterprises connect, manage, and unify complex data systems across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. "Joining forces with Salesforce represents a significant leap forward in our journey," Walia said in a statement on Tuesday. "We have a shared vision for how we can help organizations harness the full value of their data in the AI era." Steve Fisher, Salesforce's chief technology officer, said that the truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data, adding that Informatica's metadata and catalog tools will complement Salesforce's agentic AI platform, Agentforce. Trending: The acquisition builds on Salesforce's previous investments in data and AI. It follows the company's multibillion-dollar acquisitions of Slack at $27.7 billion in 2021, Tableau at $15.7 billion in 2019, and MuleSoft at $6.5 billion in 2018. According to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Informatica will be integrated alongside Data Cloud, Tableau, and MuleSoft to enable autonomous agents to deliver smarter, safer, and more scalable outcomes for every company. Salesforce's operating and financial chief Robin Washington said the company will move quickly to leverage Informatica's capabilities across public sector, life sciences, healthcare, and financial services verticals, where governed, trustworthy data is critical. The deal is expected to close in early fiscal 2027, pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing was taken private in 2015 through a $5.3 billion deal led by private-equity firm Permira and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Informatica says it serves more than 5,000 customers across nearly 100 countries, including over 80 of the Fortune 100, according to its acquisition announcement. The transaction will be financed through a combination of Salesforce's cash and new debt, the company said in the announcement. Read Next: How do billionaires pay less in income tax than you?. Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? SALESFORCE (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report INFORMATICA (INFA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Why Salesforce Is Paying $8 Billion for 'the Plumbing of AI' originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Salesforce Stock Sinks Despite Strong AI Momentum -- Is Now the Time to Buy the Dip?
Salesforce stock sold off despite a solid quarter and raised guidance. The company is seeing solid momentum with its AI agent solution, Agentforce. The stock looks attractively valued at current levels. 10 stocks we like better than Salesforce › Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) turned in solid fiscal 2026 first-quarter results and raised its full-year revenue forecast as customers begin to embrace its artificial intelligence (AI) agents. However, the stock has struggled to gain traction in 2025 with shares down more than 20% year to date, as of this writing. With the software-as-as-service (SaaS) company also recently announcing the $8 billion acquisition of Informatica (NYSE: INFA), let's take a closer look at its results to see if the stock can start to gain some momentum. Salesforce continues to see early success with AI agents, and the company now has more than 4,000 paid customers for its Agentforce platform. Agentforce has already reached annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $100 million, the fastest product in the company's history to accomplish this milestone. In addition, 30% of Agentforce's bookings came from customers increasing their consumption, even though the product has only been available for two quarters. Including pilots, it now has more than 8,000 Agentforce deals in place. At the same time, management said its Data Cloud offering, which helps customers unify their data into a single source, has also taken off with Data Cloud ARR increasing 120% year over year to more than $1 billion. The product recently surpassed 22 trillion records, up 175% year over year. Nearly 60% of its top 100 deals included both Data Cloud and AI, and half of Data Cloud's Q1 new bookings came from existing customers. Agentforce and Data Cloud are part of Salesforce's four-pillar ADAM framework: agents, data, apps, and metadata. The company says that to truly deliver digital labor, these parts must all work together. That's why Salesforce apps like Tableau and Slack are deeply integrated with agentic layers while running on its metadata platform. With this, the company plans to help lead the digital labor revolution. To help drive adoption, the company has also introduced FlexCredits, a new Agentforce consumption-based pricing model to improve customer satisfaction and enhance flexibility. For the quarter ended April 30, Salesforce's revenue increased 8% year over year to $9.83 billion, surpassing its guidance range of $9.71 billion to $9.76 billion. Subscription and support revenue also increased 8% to $9.30 billion. Among its core products, Mulesoft revenue rose 8%, while Slack revenue jumped 11%. Tableau's growth saw strong quarter-on-quarter acceleration from 3% to 12%. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose 6% to $2.58. The company also generated $6.30 billion in free cash flow during the quarter. Salesforce's current remaining performance obligations (cRPOs) increased 12% year over year to $29.6 billion. cRPOs are the portion of a company's contracted revenue that's expected to be recognized within the next year. The metric is commonly used by SaaS companies to provide visibility into future revenue. The company boosted its full-year outlook as you can see below: Metric Prior Fiscal 2026 Guidance New Fiscal 2026 Guidance Revenue $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion $41.0 billion to $41.3 billion Revenue growth 7% to 8% 8% to 9% Adjusted EPS $11.09 to $11.17 $11.27 to $11.33 Data source: Salesforce. It's been a theme recently to see enterprise software companies take a cautious stance with guidance given the uncertainty around tariffs and the impact they may have on the economy. However, Salesforce increased its full-year forecast, and it still wasn't enough to lift its struggling stock That said, the company is seeing early momentum with agentic AI, and its vision to create a unified platform around its ADAM framework looks like a solid plan. Meanwhile, its acquisition of data integration company Informatica should bolster its Data Cloud offering and boost AI agent performance. Plus, with FlexCredits, the company is better able to align the cost of its product with the utility customers get from it, which should help drive adoption. Salesforce looks attractively priced by any metric. It has a forward price-to-sales multiple of 6 based on analysts' estimates for fiscal 2026, while its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 23, and its price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio is 0.3. A PEG ratio below 1 is typically reflective of an undervalued stock. When you combine Salesforce's valuation metrics with its AI market opportunity, you get a compelling case to buy this stock on the dip. Before you buy stock in Salesforce, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Salesforce wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Salesforce. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Salesforce. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Salesforce Stock Sinks Despite Strong AI Momentum -- Is Now the Time to Buy the Dip? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Hans India
6 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Spot Hires & Global Placements Dominate Pearl Academy's Portfolio 2025
Bengaluru: Pearl Academy, India's leading creative education institution, hosted Portfolio 2025, its flagship annual graduation showcase, at its Bengaluru Campus today. The showcase highlighted a bold vision for the future, with students presenting cutting-edge, globally relevant projects that blended AI, sustainability, and disruptive design thinking across fashion, styling, interior, communication, textile, and product design. The 2025 placement season saw four students secure international placements with Dubai's Apparel Group, while multiple spot hires were made by top brands including Rocketium, Cap Gemini, Pernia Pop Up Shop, Christian Louboutin, Reliance Brands, TJX, J.J. Valaya, Ritika Mirchandani, Snapdeal, Live Space, Meres Benisant, etc. The placement season kicked off with offers from Pantaloons, Aparna Kaushik Designs, and labels like DYou and Ridhi Mehra, while recruitment processes with Sabyasachi Calcutta LLP, Asian Paints and Ethos are underway. A Communication Design student from Pearl Academy has received a ₹26 LPA offer for the role of Product Designer from Rocketium, reflecting the institution's consistent placement performance and growing relevance in the creative-tech space. Additionally, Pearl students are also launching their own ventures. Portfolio 2025 spotlighted this entrepreneurial spirit, reinforcing Pearl Academy's role in nurturing both employability and enterprise. Entrepreneurship also took center stage at the Pearl Academy School of Business, with six standout startups—including Shark Tank-featured Aignosis AI—pitching their ideas and receiving grants under Pearl Academy's incubation program. These startups reflected the institution's sector-agnostic approach, supporting ventures in fashion, AI, wellness, and beyond, open to both alumni and external innovators. As part of its philosophy of deep industry integration, Pearl Academy also announced a partnership with EY India, a global leader in consulting, for its management programmes' specialisation in Data Science and Business Analytics. Through this collaboration, EY India will train Pearl School of Business students on mission-critical skills to achieve success in today's business landscape, such as business intelligence and data visualisation through Power BI and Tableau. All students enrolled in the new BBA and MBA programmes will also receive a certification from EY India, further enhancing their industry readiness and global outlook. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Aditi Srivastava, President, Pearl Academy, said, 'Creativity is not just the ability to make—it is the courage to reveal, the instinct to question, and the will to transform. Each idea born in the classroom finds its voice in Portfolio, where imagination takes its first professional breath. This showcase is more than a graduation—it's a declaration of possibility. To our graduating class: the world awaits your vision, your values, and your courage to shape what comes next.' The event culminated in a graduate fashion show at the campus, celebrating each student's unique design voice. Every collection told a distinct story of inspiration, innovation, and disruption—revealing the technical skill and conceptual thinking behind their creations. More than a showcase, this presentation highlighted their evolution into industry-ready designers, embodying Pearl Academy's commitment to nurturing tomorrow's creative leaders. The immersive experience was brought alive by interactive workshops and installations encouraging dialogue between academia and industry. Students gained vital industry exposure and networking opportunities, connecting directly with potential employers, collaborators, and mentors. With real-time mentorship from industry leaders, exposure to global opportunities, and a platform that merges creativity with enterprise, Portfolio 2025 once again proved why Pearl Academy remains a frontrunner in shaping India's creative economy.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Stifel Nicolaus Maintains Buy Rating on Salesforce (CRM)
On May 29, analyst J. Parker Lane of Stifel Nicolaus maintained a Buy rating on Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and kept a price target of $375.00. The rating update followed the company's fiscal Q1 2026 earnings report on May 28 and reflects the analyst's confidence in CRM's strategic positioning in the AI space and its considerable growth potential, driven by innovative solutions such as MuleSoft, Agentforce, Data Cloud, and Tableau. A customer service team in an office setting using the company's Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers. The analyst stated that management has also expressed confidence in the company's innovative technological capabilities, expecting them to bolster Salesforce, Inc.'s (NYSE:CRM) market presence and support revenue growth. The company's fiscal Q1 2026 results showed an 8% year-over-year growth in revenue which amounted to $9.8 billion. Its subscription and support revenue also increased by 8% year-over-year, reaching $9.3 billion. The analyst further commented that Salesforce, Inc.'s (NYSE:CRM) focus on adjusting compensation structures and expanding its go-to-market capabilities demonstrates a commitment to expediting growth while ensuring margin expansion. Although Salesforce, Inc.'s (NYSE:CRM) is in the early stages of monetizing its AI capabilities, the analyst expressed confidence in its potential to land multi-product deals. In addition, he stated that the company's traction in the mid-market segments and SMB points towards a promising outlook, supporting the Buy rating. While we acknowledge the potential of CRM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRM and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Salesforce stock gets lift on Q1 beat, full-year outlook
Releasing quarterly results after Wednesday's closing bell, Salesforce (CRM) posted first quarter revenue of $9.83 billion (vs. estimates of $9.75 billion) and adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share (vs. estimates of $2.44 per share). Salesforce shares are getting a lift in extended hours trading on this positive earnings news. Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton dive deeper into Salesforce's performance, including comments from CEO Marc Benioff, the cloud developer's positive full-year outlook, and the company's position in the AI trade. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. Now, taking a look at Salesforce as its first quarter results just hitting the wire right now. You can see that stock popping as these headlines cross. Q1 adjusted EPS 258. The street was closer to 244. Q1 sales, I'm seeing 2.13 billion. Street was closer to 2.16 billion. Let's spin ahead. I'm looking for guidance here. They see uh Q2 revenue they're calling for between 10.11 and 10.16 billion. The street was at 10.02 billion. Um and I'm also trying to look for the full year revenue. There it is. 41 to 41.3 billion. They had seen 40.5 to 40.9 billion in July. And I'm taking a look at some commentary from Mark Benioff, the CEO of the company, talking about the strong results. And you know, Salesforce is known as a company that buys a lot of other companies or had been and had taken a pause until very, very recently. And he mentions a lot of the different things they've rolled up, but he talks about their products as well. He says with Agent Force, data cloud, our customer 360 apps, Tableau, a company they bought, Slack, a company they bought, all built on one trusted unified foundation. Companies of every size can build a digital labor force. He also says, and with our agreement to acquire Informatica, that was the one most recently here, we will bring together the industry's leading AI CRM, customer resource management and AI powered lots of acronyms in here. And the point is, he says we'll create the most complete intelligent AI and data platform for the enterprise. Yeah, uh the full year revenue guys is also interesting again. They're calling that for between 41 to 41.3 and they had seen 40.5 to 40.9. Interesting only because I had I had seen some analysts um Julie, thinking that Mark Benioff would actually just maintain the guide. And they thought, well, he's going to maintain it because that would be in their words kind of the more prudent move given the macro backdrop. So that's interesting that they they they they made that decision. Investors do like it. The shares are up what almost 5% here. They've fallen by 17% this year. And This year. And basically we're flat over the past 12 months. Yeah. And there was some concern over this recent announcement to buy Informatica that, you know, after Salesforce had sort of found religion, some of it under activist pressure on the M&A front, it had been so acquisitive for so long, had taken that pause. Was Informatica a sign that it was coming back to the table, not just for this deal, but for more deal making and that will likely be a question for Benny off. You're right because that would have been one thing I I did see some on the street flag was, well, does this sort of indicate that to you that Benny off is on the hunt again and he's going to get back to that old pattern of relatively large M&A after taking what had been a kind of a hiatus for a few years. There were some who were skeptical of that deal. I know. I mean, the street was it was interesting. There were some who thought, listen, why why did you need to buy it? Why couldn't you just partnered there? They also Right. Right. And why do it now? Exactly. But um other questions for sure come up, not only broader questions, how are you dealing with the macro? What levers you're pulling to deal with the macro or you're seeing it in the business in terms of sales cycles. And of course a lot of questions about AI. There are certainly bulls on this stock and we've had them on the show who believe, listen, if you want to play the AI trade, um yes, you play it with Nvidia and Microsoft, but certainly a lot do believe in in the moves Benny off is making there too. Yeah, and speaking of which, if you look at the analyst coverage on the stock, most um analysts who covered are bulls, about 80% of those who covered are bulls, um about 3% of a sell about 16% at holds on sales force. So to your point, there are still a lot of folks who are are bulls out there. Um the other interesting thing about the Informatica deal is it was supposed to happen in 2024, right? And then it was abandoned. At that point it would have been at a higher price. So Salesforce actually got it at a lower price than it would have. I guess that's on the uh the the plus note um when uh folks are looking at this deal. So um but Benny off uh you know, as usual sounding a pretty optimistic tone here. Um and really talking about agentic AI as the buzzword, not just really for Salesforce, but a lot of different analysts that we've been speaking with, they've been talking about. And investors look equally optimistic. We're about 5% here. Sign in to access your portfolio
