What happened
Shares of cloud-based enterprise software provider Salesforce.com (CRM +2.88%) were trading 4.6% higher as of 2:05 p.m. ET Monday. The stock took a nearly 6% hit last week, a period that was capped off by news of the discovery of the omicron COVID-19 variant, and word that it has already begun to spread around the globe.
Besides a general reprieve from selling pressure as investors reassessed the risk presented by this new variant of concern, Salesforce's stock price was also rising Monday due to a Wall Street upgrade. Analyst Patrick Walravens of investment research firm JMP Securities reiterated Salesforce as a buy and boosted his price target to $350 from $320 before.
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So what
While analysts' price targets are subjective and don't mean much for investors who are focusing on a company's long-term potential, Salesforce has been getting plenty of positive attention ahead of its earnings report for its fiscal 2022 third-quarter (which ended Oct. 31). That report is due out Tuesday. Earlier this month, Salesforce stock got buy ratings and price target hikes from analysts at Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley.
It's not too hard to see why Wall Street is waxing optimistic. Back in September, Salesforce once again increased its revenue guidance for its fiscal 2022 to a range of $26.25 billion to $26.35 billion. It also provided an initial forecast for its fiscal 2023, projecting revenue in the $31.65 billion to $31.80 billion range, which would amount to growth of about 21% over fiscal 2022's expected sales.
Now what
The customer relationship management software leader has built its offerings into a full-fledged digital transformation platform. Though the pandemic and its ongoing impacts continue to cast a pall over the global economy, Salesforce is going to be just fine. Enterprises around the world are looking for solutions to help them manage their transitions into a new digital era and to deal with issues around remote work and customer engagement.
That means this cloud computing leader should have no shortage of growth opportunities. CEO Marc Benioff hasn't been shy about his $50 billion annual revenue goal, and Salesforce is on track to achieve that lofty target within a few years' time.
