Can Acquisitions Drive Salesforce Stock Out of Slump? (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce stock (NYSE:CRM) has struggled this year, bringing holders much to ponder after a 26% YTD decline. The company is betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) to rejuvenate its performance, the latest of which involves the acquisition of Doti, an agentic enterprise search company, signaling a continued strategic pivot towards AI-driven growth.

The acquisition of Doti, announced today, aims to integrate advanced AI features across Salesforce's platform. The deal, reportedly valued at $100 million, is expected to enhance Salesforce's enterprise search capabilities, with Slack serving as the conversational interface, and represents an effort to empower collaboration between humans and AI agents within the enterprise.

This move is part of a broader acquisition strategy; Salesforce recently agreed to acquire Informatica for approximately $8 billion. The anticipated integration of Informatica's data management tools aims to bolster Salesforce's AI capabilities by improving data management and integration. Following these strategic moves, the company projected revenue to exceed $60 billion by 2030, surpassing the average forecast of $58.37 billion. This optimistic outlook, driven by the rapid integration of AI features into cloud offerings, initially sparked positive sentiment.

Indeed, after the announcement of the Informatica acquisition and the revenue forecast, Salesforce shares rose over 6% in premarket trading. However, the stock's performance has been volatile. In August 2025, the stock dropped 1.91% amid increased trading volume, reflecting market concerns about the immediate financial impact and integration challenges associated with these acquisitions.

The market's response, down 0.54% so far early, suggests a cautious optimism, balancing the potential of AI-driven expansion against the challenges of integrating new technologies and realizing financial returns. The company's ability to demonstrate tangible benefits from its AI investments will be crucial in restoring investor confidence and driving the stock out of its current slump.