Truist Securities Reiterates Buy Rating on Salesforce (CRM) Stock

Core Insights - Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is recognized as one of the Best Wide Moat Stocks to buy, benefiting from significant customer switching costs and network effects [1] - Truist Securities has reiterated a "Buy" rating with a price target of $400, citing potential catalysts that could enhance investor sentiment [1] - The company has been labeled a value trap by some investors, but Truist believes that AI and data products will drive improved bookings in the second half of the year and better growth prospects into FY 2027 and beyond [1] - Salesforce reported strong Q2 2026 results, surpassing financial targets and achieving its 10th consecutive quarter of operating margin expansion [2] - The company's data cloud and AI annual recurring revenue exceeded $1.2 billion, reflecting a 120% year-over-year increase [2] Financial Performance - Salesforce closed H1 2026 with robust performance across revenue, margin, cash flow, and cRPO [2] - The company has shown consistent improvement in operating margins over the last ten quarters [2] Market Sentiment - In Q3 2025, Salesforce's stock faced pressure due to concerns about trade tensions affecting GDP growth and IT budgets, as well as worries regarding AI's impact on Service Cloud seats [3] - There are concerns about the slower-than-expected monetization ramp from AI-enabled offerings like AgentForce [3]