Sometimes, the smartest investment wins happen behind closed doors long before the opening bell rings on Wall Street. Artificial intelligence (AI) heavyweight Anthropic confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, June 1, beating rival OpenAI to the punch in the scramble toward public markets.
Fresh off a late May funding round that valued the Claude Code creator at $965 billion post money, Anthropic now sits ahead of OpenAI in the valuation pecking order. If Anthropic reaches Wall Street with a $1 trillion valuation, the debut could rank among the most significant stock market arrivals in years.
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A $1 trillion debut would place Anthropic among the world's most valuable companies overnight while likely securing the second or third largest IPO in history behind SpaceX and Saudi Aramco. This possibility places Salesforce (CRM) directly in the spotlight as it first backed Anthropic during its Series C funding round in early 2023.
The software giant doubled down during every subsequent round, including Anthropic's latest Series G financing in February 2026. The relationship has remained intact from day one and the repeated investments now give Salesforce a stake worth roughly $5 billion in Anthropic.
The journey which began with an investment of about $50 million in early 2023, has now grown into a position large enough to turn heads across the market. CRM stock, which was down 20.9% year-to-date (YTD), gained 9.7% on June 1 alone owing to Anthropic's IPO plans.
So let us debrief if the rapidly appreciating investment can become a meaningful catalyst for CRM stock.
About Salesforce Stock
Based in San Francisco, California, Salesforce has built its reputation as a leader in cloud software and customer relationship management solutions. Its platform helps businesses bring sales, service, marketing, commerce, and analytics under one roof.
The company's growing AI ecosystem includes Agentforce, Data 360, Informatica, and Slack. Together, these tools help organizations automate workflows, unlock the value of their data, and deepen customer engagement across global markets.
The nearly $171.67 billion market cap company has endured a rough stretch over the past year. Shares dropped 23.11% during the last 52 weeks.
However, recent developments surrounding Anthropic have helped reverse some of that weakness. CRM stock is up 9.43% over the last month. Buyers stepped on the gas even harder during the past five trading sessions, driving gains of 12.32%.
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www.barchart.com Valuation metrics remain relatively attractive compared to historical levels. CRM stock is currently trading at 14.86 times forward adjusted earnings and 3.73 times sales. Both figures sit below broader industry averages and beneath the company's own five-year historical multiples, signaling a potential entry point in the stock.
Notably, Salesforce rewards shareholders through dividends. The company pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share, producing a dividend yield of 0.92%. It is scheduled to pay its most recent quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share on July 2 to shareholders of record as of June 11.
Salesforce Surpasses Q1 Earnings
Salesforce gave investors another reason to stay optimistic when it reported its Q1 FY2027 results on May 27. Revenue increased 13.3% year-over-year (YOY) to $11.13 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Non-GAAP EPS rose 50.4% from the year ago period to $3.88, comfortably topping the Street’s forecast of $3.13.
The company's broader AI strategy continued to gain traction. Agentforce, Data 360, and Informatica Cloud collectively generated $3.4 billion in AI and data annual recurring revenue (ARR), with 50% of Agentforce and Data 360 bookings originating from customers increasing their commitments.
The practical impact of these products has already begun to show up in Salesforce's sales organization. During the quarter, Agentforce Sales autonomously handled 220,000 leads and generated $42 million in pipeline opportunities. Current remaining performance obligation (cRPO) also moved in the right direction as it reached $33.6 billion.
Profitability remained strong across the board. Non-GAAP income from operations increased 22.1% from the prior year period to $3.9 billion. Non-GAAP net income rose 35.1% YOY to $3.4 billion. Moreover, free cash flow advanced 4.1% from the year ago period to $6.6 billion.
And, the balance sheet strengthened during the quarter. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $8.9 billion as of April 30, up from $7.3 billion on Jan. 31.
Looking ahead, management has issued encouraging guidance. For Q2 FY2027, they expect revenue between $11.27 billion and $11.35 billion, representing YOY growth of 10% to 11%. Management forecasts non-GAAP diluted net income per share in the range of $3.25 to $3.27.
Salesforce has raised the midpoint of its full FY2027 revenue outlook. The company now expects FY2027 revenue between $45.9 billion and $46.2 billion, representing approximately 11% annual growth. Management projects diluted net income per share between $14.06 and $14.12 for the full fiscal year.
On the other hand, analysts forecast Q2 FY2027 EPS of $2.37, which represents YOY growth of 4.4%. For full FY2027, analysts project the bottom line to marginally grow YOY to $9.83 with FY2028 projections calling for EPS growth of 12.51% to $11.06.
What Do Analysts Expect for Salesforce Stock?
Wall Street is leaning bullish on Salesforce despite the stock's recent volatility, assigning CRM stock an overall “Moderate Buy” rating. Out of 50 analysts, 34 recommend “Strong Buy,” two recommend “Moderate Buy,” 12 suggest “Hold,” one maintains a “Moderate Sell,” while one has flagged a “Strong Sell” rating.
To that end, the stock’s average price target of $262.08 represents potential upside of 31%. Meanwhile, the Street-High target of $475 suggest a gain of 137.5% from current levels.
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www.barchart.com On the date of publication, Aanchal Sugandh did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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