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Salesforce (CRM) Shares Downgraded On Executive Turnover Concerns

Sam Boughedda trader
Updated 8 Dec 2022

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) shares are down premarket Thursday after Baird downgraded the stock and The Wall Street Journal reported tensions between Salesforce (CRM) co-Chief Executives Marc Benioff and Brent Taylor grew for months over their responsibilities and how the business was run.


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The WSJ added that the tensions resulted in last week's announcement that Taylor would exit the role.

Salesforce shares are down over 1% premarket, while in Wednesday's session, the stock declined over 2%.

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YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY

Baird analyst Rob Oliver downgraded Salesforce to Neutral from Outperform on Thursday, cutting the firm's price target on CRM to $150 from $200, stating that the current macroeconomic environment remains challenged and recent executive departures are a concern.

In his research note, Oliver said he believes the mixture of macro headwinds and seat-based software pressure could weigh on Salesforce's revenue growth near term, while the rise in the company's executive turnover is a surprise and could indicate execution risk.

On Monday, Credit Suisse analyst Phil Winslow reduced the firm's price target on Salesforce to $225 from $250, maintaining an Outperform rating on the stock, telling investors in a research note that Salesforce reported solid Q3 results, however, while cRPO growth of 12% year-over-year was consistent with guidance and consensus of 12%, it included 100 bps of incremental FX headwind.

According to TipRanks, 27 out of 35 analysts have a Buy rating on Salesforce shares, with eight at Hold. In addition, the average price target is $197.93, representing a potential 51.7% upside.


YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY.


Sam is a trader and lead stock market writer at AskTraders. After starting his career in the forex market, Sam now focuses on stocks, specifically consumer staples.Â