Artificial intelligence (AI) helped holiday sales reach record levels this year, new Salesforce data shows.However, the company said in a report issued Monday (Jan. 6), high rates of returns could hinder the overall profit margins on the $1.2 trillion in global sales.“Retailers had a robust holiday season, but a 28% rise in the rate of returns compared to last year is a cause for some concern,” Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, said in a Monday news release.“Retailers who have emb ...

Salesforce is quietly emerging as a force in the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, and the company's next big opportunity could be worth trillions.Under the leadership of technology visionary Marc Benioff, Salesforce (CRM 0.52%) has become one of the most influential companies in the world of enterprise software.At its core, Salesforce is a leader in customer relationship management (CRM) -- a tool that allows sales leaders to track deal flow, pipeline trends, marketing campaigns, and more in a data-c ...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH), the fifth-largest public homebuilder in the U.S., today announced the appointment of Geisha Williams as an independent director to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Her appointment demonstrates the Company's commitment to ongoing board refreshment and increased diversity as it increases its size to 12 directors. The Board plans to consider Ms. Williams for appointment to one or more board committees over the course ...

Market Performance and Catalysts - The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite ended 2024 higher by 13%, 23%, and 29% respectively, reaching multiple record-closing highs [1] - Key catalysts for the stock market surge included hefty stock buybacks, better-than-expected corporate earnings, stock-split euphoria, and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) [2] AI's Economic Impact - AI is expected to increase global GDP by 26%, or $15.7 trillion, by 2030, with $6.6 trillion from productivity improvements and $9.1 trillion from consumption-side effects [4] Nvidia's Dominance in AI Hardware - Nvidia's market value grew from $360 billion in 2023 to nearly $3.3 trillion by the end of 2024, driven by its AI hardware [6] - Nvidia's sales are projected to surge from $27 billion to an estimated $195 billion in three years, fueled by its AI-inspired GPUs [7] - The company charges up to a 300% premium for its Hopper chip compared to competitors, contributing to a gross margin in the mid-70% range [8] - Nvidia's Blackwell chip is designed to accelerate computing in areas like quantum computing and generative AI while being more energy-efficient [9] Shift to AI Agents in 2025 - The next stage of the AI revolution focuses on AI agents, which are software programs capable of performing tasks autonomously [11][12] - AI agents are being deployed in various sectors, including customer support, financial trading, and autonomous vehicles [13] - Salesforce is leading the charge in agentic AI, with its Agentforce suite resolving 83% of client concerns autonomously [14][15] - SoundHound AI, with a market cap of $7.3 billion, saw its stock surge 836% in 2024, driven by its voice AI and conversational technology [16] - SoundHound AI aims to expand its voice recognition solutions into next-gen automobiles and other settings [17] Historical Context and Caution - The early stages of new technologies, such as the internet, often involve overestimation of adoption rates and utility, leading to unpredictable outcomes [20][21] - While AI agents are poised to be a major trend, the technology's long-term success will depend on businesses' ability to effectively integrate and monetize AI [22][23]

Market Opportunity - Project management software is part of a $100 billion market opportunity growing at 14% annually [1] - The company estimates its total addressable market (TAM) is growing at 14% annually to over $100 billion across four markets: work management, CRM, service management, and software development [12] Financial Performance - Q3 2024 revenue exceeded analysts' estimates by 1.9%, rising 33% to $251 million [5] - Earnings per share of 22 cents surpassed expectations [5] - The company raised its 2024 revenue guidance to $965 million, a 32% increase and $7 million more than previous guidance [23] - Free cash flow forecast for 2024 increased to $287.5 million, $5 million more than previous guidance [15] - The company reached $1 billion in annual recurring revenue in Q3 2024 [27] Customer Growth and Retention - The company's new CRM product brought in 25,000 customers in two years [10] - The company has 250,000 customers across 200 industries globally [22] - Retention rate consistently tops 100%, driven by organic expansion within companies [24] Competitive Advantage - The company's flexible architecture for risk management works across any industry [2] - The platform is simple, easy-to-use, and flexible, filling the gap between rigid and expensive solutions like Salesforce and smaller competitors [28] - The company's culture, focused on hiring humble, passionate, and no-nonsense individuals, is a sustainable source of advantage [16] Future Prospects - The company expects revenues to increase 10-fold, aiming to reach $10 billion like competitors [7] - The company sees significant growth opportunities by expanding its product line and broadening its geographic scope [27] - The company is still young in a huge growth market with a strong customer base and initial product that can be leveraged [23] Stock Performance - The stock has fallen 28% since the Q3 2024 report despite the company posting the fastest revenue growth and highest full-year guidance raise [18][29] - Based on 21 Wall Street analysts, the stock would need to rise 39% to reach the average price target of $324 per share [19]

Lenovo and SentinelOne Partnership - Lenovo, the world's largest PC vendor with a 25% market share and 59 million PCs sold in 2023, will begin shipping computers with SentinelOne's Singularity Platform preinstalled in the second half of 2025 [1] - This partnership represents an enormous opportunity for SentinelOne, given Lenovo's significant market presence [1] Technology Stocks in the Bull Market - Technology stocks have been a driving force in the current bull market, which is over two years old [2] - With the average bull market lasting approximately five and a half years, technology stocks are expected to continue performing well [2] Nvidia - Nvidia is the leading producer of GPUs, which are increasingly used for AI training and inference due to their superior speed compared to CPUs [4] - The company has developed a software platform for programming GPUs, which has become the standard for developers and includes AI-specific tools and libraries [5] - The exponential need for computing power in AI training, exemplified by the use of 10,000 GPUs for the first version of ChatGPT and 160,000 for Meta's Llama 4, underscores Nvidia's strong position in the market [6] Salesforce - Salesforce is well-positioned in the AI software space, particularly with its CRM platform and acquisitions like Mulesoft, Tableau, and Slack [7] - The company's autonomous AI agents, called Agentforce, have seen strong early adoption with 200 deals closed and thousands more in the pipeline [8] - Agentforce is a usage-based product priced at $2 per conversation, with a forecast of 1 billion AI agents deployed by the end of fiscal 2026 [9] - Agentforce 2.0 includes a no-code platform and prebuilt agent skills, with the ability to execute actions across any app or workflow and integration into Slack [10] - Salesforce's focus on agentic AI, where AI agents act autonomously, positions it as a strong player in the next phase of AI development [11] SentinelOne - SentinelOne's Singularity Platform uses AI to predict, monitor, and eliminate threats across public, private, or hybrid cloud environments [12] - The company has gained traction with a large Fortune 50 customer and several government customers switching to its platform following a CrowdStrike outage [13] - SentinelOne's Purple AI solution, which helps analysts hunt complex security threats using natural language prompts, is the fastest-growing solution in the company's history [13] - Despite a lagging stock price in 2024, SentinelOne has demonstrated strong revenue growth of 28% last quarter and trades at less than half the price of CrowdStrike on a forward P/S basis [14]

Investment Rating - The report assigns an "Outperform" rating to Salesforce (CRM.N) for the first time [2][3]. Core Insights - Salesforce achieved a 20% operating profit margin for the first time in Q3 FY2025 and raised its full-year guidance [2][3]. - The focus of global stock market investments has shifted from hardware to software, leading to a revaluation of AI software companies [2]. - The company launched the AI agent software service named Agentforce, which has seen significant growth in AI orders and contracts [3][14]. - Salesforce's remaining performance obligations (RPO) reached $53.1 billion, a 10% year-over-year increase, indicating strong future revenue visibility [3][26]. Summary by Sections Financial Performance - In Q3 FY2025, Salesforce reported revenues of $9.44 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase, with a GAAP operating profit margin of 20%, up 2.8 percentage points year-over-year [3][14]. - The company’s net profit for the quarter was $1.53 billion, reflecting a 24.8% year-over-year increase [3][14]. - The company has consistently improved its gross margin, which reached 77.71% in Q3 FY2025, up from 72.41% in Q1 FY2022 [3][17]. AI Product Development - The introduction of Agentforce has led to a threefold increase in AI orders exceeding $1 million year-over-year, with over 2,000 AI contracts signed [3][18]. - The company plans to release Agentforce 2.0, which is expected to further accelerate the adoption of its AI products [3][20]. Mergers and Acquisitions - Salesforce has a history of strategic acquisitions to enhance its business capabilities, including recent acquisitions of Own Company and Zoomin to strengthen its AI capabilities [3][28]. - The company has been actively expanding its business matrix through acquisitions since 2006, which has significantly contributed to its revenue growth [3][28]. Revenue Guidance - Salesforce raised its full-year revenue guidance for FY2025 to $37.8-38 billion, reflecting an 8-9% year-over-year growth [3][33]. - The company expects subscription revenue to grow slightly below 10% year-over-year [3][33]. Earnings Forecast - The report projects Salesforce's revenues for FY2025, FY2026, and FY2027 to be $37.83 billion, $41.05 billion, and $44.68 billion, respectively [3][41]. - The forecasted net profits for the same years are $5.49 billion, $6.52 billion, and $7.81 billion, indicating a strong growth trajectory [3][46].

Stock Performance - The stock price of Salesforce Inc (NYSE: CRM) fell on Wednesday in-line with the broader market [4] Market Impact - The second quarter sales forecast for Micron Technology Inc (MU) caused a sharp dive in investor sentiment [4]

Core Insights - The article discusses the qualifications and expertise of an Associate Professor in Finance and Corporate Governance, highlighting their experience in investing and research in various financial topics [1]. Group 1: Professional Background - The individual holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Durham, U.K., and is a CFA charterholder [1]. - They have six years of investing experience in Indian and US equities, focusing on a medium to long-term investment horizon [1]. - The professor actively researches Behavioral Finance, Corporate Governance, Activist Hedge Funds, Cryptocurrencies, and M&A, with publications in top-ranked peer-reviewed journals [1]. Group 2: Media Engagement - The professor produces and hosts a weekly investing podcast titled "The Stock Doctor" [1].

Group 1: AI Investment Phases - The investment landscape for artificial intelligence (AI) can be divided into three phases: high-performance semiconductors and networking gear, cloud providers, and software vendors that integrate these technologies [1][3][10] - Nvidia leads the first phase, while companies like Broadcom and Arista Networks also benefit from the demand for supercomputing infrastructure [1] - The second phase includes cloud providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, which are essential for building AI applications [10] Group 2: Salesforce's Market Position - Salesforce has maintained a dominant position in the customer relationship management (CRM) market with a nearly 22% revenue share, surpassing its next four competitors combined [2] - The company has introduced Agentforce, an AI-powered platform that enhances productivity by automating tasks such as resolving customer cases and optimizing marketing campaigns [5][6] - Salesforce's recent financial results showed an 8% revenue increase to $9.4 billion, driven by strong growth in sales and customer service software [6] Group 3: Future Growth and Adoption - 25% of Fortune 100 companies are currently Data Cloud customers, indicating strong potential for Agentforce adoption in future quarters [7] - Spending on AI agents is projected to grow at an annual rate of 45% through 2030, suggesting a robust market for Salesforce's offerings [8] - Wall Street estimates that Salesforce's adjusted earnings will grow at 12% annually through fiscal 2026, although the current valuation appears high at 35 times adjusted earnings [9] Group 4: Product Development and Innovation - Salesforce has launched two agentic AI products: Agentforce Service Agent and Agent Builder, with further innovations planned under Agentforce 2.0 [13][14] - The company reported strong early momentum for Agentforce, with a significant pipeline of demand despite the platform's recent release [15]