Salesforce AI Buying Spree Faces Skepticism

On June 29, Salesforce disclosed a $3.6 billion purchase of Fin, an AI-driven platform whose Apex AI model powers an agent for email, WhatsApp, Slack, live chat and interfaces. The deal is slated to close before the end of Salesforce’s fiscal year in January and will bolt on to the Agentforce suite for customers.

CNBC

Since December, Salesforce has announced six deals, including the $8 billion Informatica purchase in fall 2023 and this year’s acquisitions of M3ter (billing), Contentful (CMS), Qualified (marketing) and Cimulate (e-commerce). Executives call the series “highly selective” moves to enrich data inputs and AI-native capabilities feeding the Agentforce roadmap.

CNBC

Fin’s $3.6 billion price follows a fiscal outlook projecting $46 billion of revenue for FY 2027. Agentforce’s ARR is $1.2 billion; together with Informatica and Data 360 the ARR totals $3.4 billion. Salesforce’s shares fell about 17 % in June, its second-worst month in three years, and are down 40 % for the year.

CNBC

A Salesforce spokesperson said the M&A approach is “highly selective and focused on strategic fit, integration discipline, margin and cash-flow parameters, and advancing our agentic AI roadmap to drive customer value.” Cantor Fitzgerald analysts called the Fin purchase “strategic,” gave a $250 price target, and argued SaaS firms can acquire AI-native companies lacking scale, resources and distribution. Salesforce reaffirmed its FY 2027 revenue target of $46 billion and highlighted Agentforce’s $1.2 billion ARR as evidence of AI traction.

CNBC

D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria warned “you can’t fight narrative,” saying acquisitions won’t calm concerns that AI could disrupt Salesforce’s SaaS model. Rishi Jaluria flagged “additional integration risk” and questioned whether deal pace spreads capital thin. Critics cite overpayments for Slack ($27 billion) and Tableau ($15.7 billion) and argue Fin’s price may be high. Sources differ on stock performance—one cites a 17 % June drop, another a 40 % year-to-date decline—and on price targets, Cantor $250 versus Jaluria $210. Fin, M3ter and Contentful terms were undisclosed.

CNBC

• “I genuinely believe that Marc can transcend this,” — Jim Cramer, Mad Money host

CNBC

• “This isn't going to help. You can't fight narrative,” — Gil Luria, D.A. Davidson analyst

CNBC

• “Inside our core applications now, we have Agentforce Coworker that lets our customers work with Agentforce directly, giving them tremendous capability to do things that they've just never been able to do before,” — Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce

CNBC

• “There's just additional integration risk at a time where Salesforce, I believe, really needs to get Agentforce right,” — Rishi Jaluria, RBC analyst

CNBC

Salesforce plans to embed Fin’s Apex AI model into Agentforce before fiscal year-end, while analysts await the next quarterly report for ARR acceleration. The firm has not announced more acquisitions, but the bolt-on pace suggests effort to expand its AI portfolio.

CNBC