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Salesforce issued weaker than expected guidance for the coming year, doing little to allay investor concerns that AI start-ups will disrupt the software giant’s business model.
The group said on Wednesday that its full-year revenue would come in between $45.8bn and $46.2bn. This compared with analysts’ estimates of $46.1bn, according to S&P Visible Alpha.
Salesforce, which produces software to track customer relationships, has faced considerable pressure from investors amid a market rout spurred by the risk posed to software companies by AI start-ups such as Anthropic.
The San Francisco-based company’s shares have been dragged down alongside competitors such as Intuit, Workday and ServiceNow, leaving them down about 27 per cent this year at Wednesday’s closing bell. They dropped a further 5 per cent in after-hours trading.
The soft guidance accompanied mixed fourth-quarter earnings, with Salesforce reporting revenue increased 12 per cent to $11.2bn in the three months ended January 31, in line with expectations. Operating profits of $1.9bn fell shy of the $2.1bn estimated by analysts.
Agentforce and Data 360, the company’s AI products, generated annual recurring revenues of $2.9bn, up from $1.4bn in the previous quarter. This included $1.1bn from Informatica, which it acquired in late 2025.
“We’ve rebuilt Salesforce to become the operating system for the agentic Enterprise, bringing humans and agents together on one trusted platform,” said chair and chief executive Marc Benioff.
Salesforce is also wrestling with the pricing model that will underpin its future AI services, having traditionally focused on a “per-seat” licensing approach.
Benioff has insisted that the user-based approach offers customers predictability. This contrasts with a move towards a consumption- based model adopted by some AI start-ups or an outcome-based approach promoted by Sierra, a rival start-up set up by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.
Salesforce also boosted its dividend and announced a new $50bn share buyback programme after repurchasing $23bn last year.
Benioff — long a supporter of progressive causes — has come under fire from Salesforce employees after making a series of remarks regarding immigration and law enforcement.
The chief executive invited employees who had flown into Las Vegas this month for the company’s annual “Company Kickoff” to stand up before remarking that ICE agents were present and monitoring them.
The remarks came several months after the billionaire invited US President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard in San Francisco to curb crime and public drug use.
His recent comments have led to significant employee pushback, including from senior executives such as Rob Seaman, general manager of subsidiary Slack.
In a message to employees, Seaman wrote that he “cannot defend or explain” Benioff’s remarks. “They do not align with my personal values and I know this to be the case for many of you as well.”
Salesforce has also been affected by the departure of senior figures in recent months, including Slack chief executive Denise Dresser, who joined OpenAI as chief revenue officer. Tableau chief Ryan Aytay and chief trust officer Brad Arkin have also stepped down.