Salesforce Surges 22% for Second-Best Day Ever After Earnings Beat, Guidance Raise and Claudeforce Launch

Salesforce shares rocketed roughly 22% on August 27, the company's second-best single-day gain in its 22-year public history, after it reported fiscal second-quarter 2027 results that beat across the board and announced a deepened AI partnership with Anthropic. Revenue came in at $11.35 billion, up 11% year over year and at the high end of its own guidance range, while adjusted EPS of $5.90 topped Wall Street estimates by more than $2.00. Free cash flow grew 81%, and current remaining performance obligation accelerated to 14% growth in constant currency.

Agentforce and Data 360 combined ARR reached nearly $3.9 billion, with Agentforce alone growing more than 240% year over year. The company also booked an investment gain from its Anthropic stake that contributed to the profit beat. Salesforce raised its full-year fiscal 2027 revenue outlook by $200 million to a range of $46.1 billion to $46.4 billion and lifted EPS guidance to $16.67 to $16.71.

Third-quarter revenue guidance of $11.42 billion to $11.50 billion came in ahead of the $11.41 billion analyst consensus. The centerpiece of the quarter beyond the numbers was Claudeforce, a new plugin integrating Anthropic's Claude model directly with Salesforce's customer data platform, with general availability planned for September. CEO Marc Benioff used the results to forcefully dismiss what he called the 'SaaSpocalypse' narrative, calling fears that AI would displace enterprise software 'nonsense' and declaring it was 'time for it to stop.' The stock's 22% surge added roughly 210 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average single-handedly, and left CRM down only about 6% from its 52-week high and down roughly 6% year to date.

The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF rose about 3% to its highest level since April 2025, with sector peers ServiceNow and Adobe climbing 5% and 3% respectively. A wave of analyst price target increases followed, with Jefferies and Truist both raising their targets to $300, BMO lifting from $230 to $260, Monness Crespi raising from $222 to $266, and additional increases from Bernstein, Mizuho, DA Davidson, Wells Fargo, Stifel, Oppenheimer, UBS, TD Cowen, and Baird. KeyBanc was the notable holdout, reiterating its Sector Weight rating.

Goldman Sachs said the quarter boosted confidence in the growth potential of Salesforce's AI pivot, while some skeptics cautioned that a portion of the EPS beat reflected non-recurring items tied to the Anthropic investment gain rather than purely organic expansion.