Earnings Call Insights: Salesforce (CRM) Q4 2026
Management View
- Marc Benioff, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO, highlighted “one of the absolute best years in our history and one of the best performances in software ever,” citing $41.5 billion in revenue for the full year, up 10% year-over-year, and $11.2 billion for the fourth quarter, up 12% year-over-year. He emphasized, “we’re updating our fiscal year ’30 revenue target to $63 billion,” and announced a new $50 billion share repurchase authorization.
- Benioff pointed to the rapid growth of Agentforce and Data 360, mentioning that “Agentforce and Data 360 ARR, including Informatica, now exceeds $2.9 billion, up 200% year-over-year.” He also noted, “wins over $1 million were up 26% year-over-year” and “wins over $10 million were up 33% year-over-year” in Q4.
- The CEO stressed significant customer traction: “the U.S. Army…has awarded us a 10-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with a ceiling of $5.6 billion.”
- Major product momentum was called out: “In its first 15 months, we closed 29,000 [Agentforce] deals, up 50% quarter-over-quarter. Customers in production have increased as well, nearly 50% in Q4.”
- Robin Washington, President, Chief Operating & Financial Officer and Director, stated, “we finished the fiscal year ’26 with second half net new AOV growth ahead of second half AOV growth.” She added, “Agentforce and Data 360 ARR, inclusive of Informatica Cloud ARR reached $2.9 billion. That’s up over 200% year-over-year.”
- Washington also explained, “we returned more than $14 billion or 99% of our free cash flow to shareholders” and confirmed the Board “approved a 5.8% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share.”
Outlook
- Benioff reiterated the updated fiscal year ’30 revenue target of $63 billion. Washington provided fiscal year ’27 revenue guidance of $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion, representing approximately 10% to 11% growth. She further guided for subscription and support growth of slightly under 12% year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating margin guidance was set at 34.3% and GAAP operating margin at 20.9%.
- For Q1, Washington forecasted revenue of $11.03 billion to $11.08 billion, with CRPO growth of approximately 14% year-over-year.
- She indicated, “we are more confident in our path to reaccelerate organic revenue in second half FY ’27 as outlined at Investor Day.”
Financial Results
- Full-year revenue reached $41.5 billion, up 10% year-over-year. Fourth quarter revenue was $11.2 billion, up 12% year-over-year.
- Current remaining performance obligation (CRPO) at the end of Q4 was $35.1 billion, up 16% year-over-year. Total RPO reached $72 billion, up 14% year-over-year.
- Informatica Cloud ARR reached $1.1 billion. Agentforce ARR was approximately $800 million, up 169% year-over-year.
- The company increased its share repurchase authorization to $50 billion and raised its dividend to $0.44 per share.
Q&A
- Keith Weiss, Morgan Stanley: Questioned if Salesforce can sustain Agentforce growth while maintaining momentum in its broader portfolio, noting CRPO growth was at guidance. Benioff responded, “we are innovating, we’re creating the future, we’re adding to the future, we’re also renewing our customers” and expressed pride in the numbers. Washington added, “we’re monetizing AI…through many different fashions,” highlighting continued seat growth and incremental value from agentic technology.
- Brent Thill, Jefferies: Asked about the $50 billion buyback versus technology acquisitions. Benioff stated, “we will continue to do acquisitions, but using our new formula…that are accretive to the business, but not dilutive to investors,” and emphasized the opportunity to buy back stock at current prices.
- S. Kirk Materne, Evercore: Sought clarity on potential competition from model providers like Anthropic. Benioff described the evolving platform landscape but emphasized Salesforce’s unique integration and customer relationships.
- Gabriela Borges, Goldman Sachs: Asked about translating tokens and Agentic Work Units (AWUs) into monetization and gross margin. Patrick Stokes explained AWUs as a measure of actual AI work and their relationship to tokens consumed. Washington commented, “short term, we don’t see gross margins getting worse, fairly neutral. Long time, we’re doing everything…to continue to get efficiencies.”
- Raimo Lenschow, Barclays: Inquired about scaling Agentforce adoption across customers. Milano detailed the three monetization approaches: premium SKUs, expanded seat coverage, and Flex Credits for customer-facing agentic use cases, noting “this is the #1 product that we sell now.”
Sentiment Analysis
- Analysts were inquisitive and at times skeptical regarding the sustainability of Agentforce growth, the balance between core and new products, and the company’s capital allocation strategy.
- Management maintained an upbeat and confident tone, frequently emphasizing record results, robust adoption, and strong product momentum. Phrases like “we are certain now” and “I’m very confident” were used to convey confidence. There was some defensiveness in responses to concerns about CRPO and competition from AI model providers.
- Compared to the previous quarter, management’s tone remained highly optimistic, with an even greater focus on Agentforce adoption and monetization.
Quarter-over-Quarter Comparison
- Guidance for FY ’30 revenue increased from $60 billion to $63 billion.
- Share repurchase authorization jumped from a previously higher-than-typical level to $50 billion, and the dividend was raised.
- Agentforce and Data 360 ARR growth accelerated, and the company reported more large deals and a surge in Agentforce transactions.
- CRPO growth was strong but management addressed concerns about it matching guidance rather than surpassing it, as analysts had anticipated.
- Management’s sentiment continued to be highly confident, while analysts pressed more on the sustainability of growth and capital allocation.
Risks and Concerns
- Management referenced ongoing market volatility, using terms like “SaaS Pocalypse” and noting “this is not a rational market.”
- Continued weakness in Marketing, Commerce, and Tableau segments was cited as a partial offset to otherwise strong results.
- Analysts questioned whether Agentforce growth could sustain overall company momentum, and probed on risks from emerging AI model platform competitors.
- Management discussed evolving pricing models and the need to educate and onboard customers at scale as a continuing challenge.
Final Takeaway
Salesforce management highlighted a record year of revenue and cash flow, a significant expansion of Agentforce and Data 360, and raised long-term growth targets to $63 billion in revenue by FY ’30. The company underscored confidence in its multi-pronged monetization strategies for AI, announced a $50 billion buyback, and increased its dividend, all while confronting market uncertainties and adapting to competitive and internal adoption challenges.