Salesforce Inc.
CRMBusiness Overview
ticker: CRM step: 01 generated: 2026-05-11 source: quick-research
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) — Business Overview
Business Description
Salesforce is the world's #1 customer relationship management (CRM) software company, providing cloud-based applications for sales, service, marketing, commerce, and analytics. In 2025, Salesforce executed its most significant rebrand in company history: the legacy "Cloud" product family (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, etc.) became "Agentforce" branded — Agentforce Sales, Agentforce Service, Agentforce Marketing — positioning autonomous AI agents at the center of every workflow. Marc Benioff has been CEO since founding in 1999.
Revenue Model
- Subscription & Support (~95% of revenue): Annual recurring SaaS contracts across cloud products
- Professional Services (~5%): Implementation consulting + training
- AI monetization shifting from per-seat to per-conversation / consumption model via Agentforce — the most consequential pricing change since the company was founded
Products & Services
Agentforce Platform (Rebranded 2025)
- Agentforce Sales (formerly Sales Cloud): CRM, opportunity/account management, pipeline
- Agentforce Service (formerly Service Cloud): Customer support, Einstein Bots, omnichannel
- Agentforce Marketing (formerly Marketing Cloud): Marketing automation, journey orchestration
- Agentforce Commerce (formerly Commerce Cloud): E-commerce platform
- Agentforce Field Service: Service workforce management
Platform & Data Layer
- Data Cloud / Data 360: Unified customer data platform (CDP)
- Tableau: Analytics (acquired 2019 for $15.7B)
- MuleSoft: Integration platform (acquired 2018 for $6.5B)
- Slack: Workplace collaboration (acquired 2021 for $27.7B)
- Heroku, AppExchange, Salesforce Platform (Lightning, Apex)
Recent Acquisitions
- Informatica (2025) — data management
- Qualified (announced 2026) — sales engagement / pipeline generation AI
Customer Base & Go-to-Market
- Customers: 150,000+ customers globally, including ~90% of Fortune 500
- Verticals: Financial services, healthcare, retail, government, manufacturing
- Segments: SMB through enterprise; bulk of revenue from large enterprise
- Geographic mix: ~70% Americas, ~20% EMEA, ~10% APAC
- AppExchange: Largest enterprise SaaS marketplace with 7,000+ ISV apps
Competitive Position
Salesforce is the dominant horizontal CRM platform with #1 market share in sales, service, and marketing automation. Moats: (1) data gravity — 30+ years of customer data flowing through Salesforce, (2) ecosystem (AppExchange, ~150,000 implementation partners), (3) platform extensibility (Apex/Lightning developer base), (4) Data Cloud + Tableau + MuleSoft + Slack create a multi-product expand opportunity inside each account. Faces accelerating competition from Microsoft Dynamics 365 (bundled with Azure), HubSpot (mid-market), AI-native vendors pricing 30-60% below Salesforce seats, and from generative AI directly bypassing CRM screens.
Key Facts
- Founded: 1999 (Marc Benioff, Parker Harris)
- Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
- Employees: ~73,000
- Exchange: NYSE
- Sector / Industry: Technology / Application Software
- Market Cap: ~$270B (May 2026)
- CEO: Marc Benioff (Chairman + CEO)
- Co-founder & CTO: Parker Harris
- FY end: late January
Financial Snapshot
ticker: CRM step: 04 generated: 2026-05-11 source: quick-research
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) — Financial Snapshot
Note: Salesforce's fiscal year ends late January. "FY2026" = fiscal year ended Jan 31, 2026.
Income Statement Summary
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $34.9B | $37.9B | $41.5B | +9.6% |
| Subscription & Support | $32.5B | $35.7B | ~$39B | +9% |
| GAAP Operating Margin | 14.4% | 19.0% | 21.3% | +2.3pp |
| Non-GAAP Operating Margin | 30.5% | 33.0% | 35.5% | +2.5pp |
| Non-GAAP EPS (diluted) | $8.22 | $10.20 | $11.50 | +13% |
| GAAP Net Income | $4.1B | $6.2B | $8.0B | +29% |
Q4 FY2026 Highlights (most recent annual close)
| Metric | Q4 FY26 | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $10.8B | +9% |
| Subscription & Support | $10.7B | +13% |
| Non-GAAP Operating Margin | ~36% | |
| EPS (non-GAAP) | $3.81 | beat $3.05 estimate |
RPO (Remaining Performance Obligations)
| Metric | FY26 Year-End | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Total RPO | $72B | +14% |
| Current RPO (cRPO) | $35.1B | +16% |
| Q3 FY26 cRPO | $29.4B | +11% |
Agentforce + Data 360 ARR
| Metric | Value | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Agentforce + Data 360 Combined ARR (Q4 FY26) | $2.9B | +200% |
| Agentforce ARR | $800M | +169% |
| Total paid Agentforce deals | 29,000+ | +50% QoQ |
| Tokens processed | ~20T | |
| Agentic Work Units delivered | 2.4B+ |
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet (FY2026)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | ~$13B |
| Free Cash Flow | ~$12B |
| Cash & Investments | ~$13B |
| Total Debt | ~$10B |
| Buybacks FY26 | ~$10B (largest ever buyback program in 2025) |
| Buyback authorization | $30B remaining |
Key Ratios (approximate, May 2026)
- P/E (forward): ~24x | EV/Sales: ~6.5x | FCF Yield: ~4.5%
- Net Cash Position: ~$3B
- Rule of 40: ~45 (9.6% growth + 35.5% non-GAAP margin)
Growth Profile
Salesforce is balancing slowing core subscription growth (high-single-digit) with explosive Agentforce growth (+169% ARR YoY). Q4 FY26 EPS beat ($3.81 vs $3.05 est) and 36% non-GAAP operating margin show disciplined execution. The pivot to consumption-based AI pricing (per-conversation, per-Agentic-Work-Unit) is the most important strategic change since the company's founding — it transforms Salesforce from per-seat licensor to per-outcome agentic platform.
Forward Estimates
- FY2027E Revenue: ~$45B (+8-10%)
- FY2027E Non-GAAP EPS: ~$13.00 (+13%)
- FY2028E EPS: ~$15+ (consensus, assumes Agentforce momentum)
- Long-term non-GAAP operating margin target: 40%+
Capital Return
- 2025 was the launch of Salesforce's largest-ever buyback program; $10B repurchased FY26
- Quarterly dividend $0.42/share annual (~$1.6B paid)
- Total return: ~5% combined yield via buybacks + dividend
Deeper Financial Analysis
The fundamental tier adds 9 additional research dimensions for $CRM.