Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) delivered a rebuttal to fears of stalled AI adoption in its third-quarter earnings report Wednesday, presenting data that directly contradicts recent channel checks suggesting customers were stuck in “pilot purgatory.”
CRM stock is gaining positive traction. Get the inside scoop here.
Breaking the ‘Testing’ Cycle
While analysts and partners had warned of “gradual” uptake and contracting pipelines heading into the print, Salesforce management revealed that Agentforce accounts in production surged 70% quarter-over-quarter.
This metric serves as a direct counter-argument to the narrative that enterprises are merely experimenting with AI rather than deploying it.
CEO Marc Benioff focused on usage statistics to prove the “Agentic Enterprise” is gaining traction. The company reported that its AI and Data portfolio reached nearly $1.4 billion in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), up 114% year-over-year.
Furthermore, Salesforce processed 3.2 trillion tokens through its AI gateway, a volume Benioff cited as proof of “real enterprise adoption” rather than just demos.
Addressing the durability of this demand, Chief Revenue Officer Miguel Milano noted that more than 50% of new Agentforce bookings came from existing customers “refilling the tank,” indicating repeat buying behavior rather than one-off trials.
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Pipeline And Capacity Expansion
Despite partner concerns of a slowdown, Salesforce reported that the third quarter was “one of our biggest pipeline generation quarters ever”.
The company's Remaining Performance Obligation (cRPO), a key measure of backlog, grew 11%, beating analyst expectations of roughly 9%.
Signaling confidence in future demand, Salesforce has aggressively expanded its sales distribution, increasing sales capacity by 23% year-to-date.
Financials And Guidance
While third-quarter revenue of $10.26 billion narrowly missed consensus estimates of $10.27 billion, the company raised its full-year Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $41.45 billion to $41.55 billion.
The company also announced that the acquisition of Informatica is closing three months ahead of schedule, further solidifying the data foundation required for its AI strategy.
The stock closed 1.71% higher at $238.72 apiece on Wednesday and rose by 1.79% in after-hours. It has declined by 27.80% year-to-date and 35.11% over the year.
It maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a strong quality ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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