On February 26, Business software provider Salesforce issued a fiscal 2026 revenue forecast below Wall Street's expectations. This was due to sluggish adoption of its Agentforce platform, causing the company's shares to drop approximately 5% in after-hours trading.
Salesforce, a pioneer in software-as-a-service, is betting heavily on AI agents to drive growth, especially as cloud giants like Microsoft and Amazon have solidified their positions in the industry and advanced in machine learning.
The conservative forecast suggests that enterprises are cautious about spending amid high interest rates and economic uncertainty, holding back on new financial commitments.
Industry analyst firm Valoir's CEO, Rebecca Wettemann, pointed out, "Given how poor initial generative AI experiments were for many companies, they're not just writing blank checks until Salesforce demonstrates Agentforce's effectiveness." Wettemann emphasized the critical importance of the next one or two quarters for Salesforce.
The company projects revenue in the range of $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion, slightly lower than the analysts' average estimate of $41.35 billion gathered by LSEG. Additionally, it anticipates full-year adjusted earnings per share between $11.09 and $11.17, compared to analysts' projection of $11.18 per share.
Analysts believe that Salesforce's return to double-digit growth rates depends on the success of Agentforce, its AI agent builder platform, following several quarters of single-digit revenue growth.
M Science's senior research analyst, Parker Snook, noted that the monetization of Agentforce "is maybe off to a slower start than what people have thought."
The spotlight on Agentforce signals a shift in the AI realm, as tech companies move beyond chatbots to deliver tangible results from their substantial investments in this groundbreaking technology.
Salesforce reported fourth-quarter revenue of $9.99 billion, falling short of the consensus estimate of $10.04 billion.