Salesforce Jumps 12% After Earnings, Benioff Unveils Claudeforce to Rebut SaaSpocalypse Fears
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 26
Salesforce Jumps 12% After Earnings, Benioff Unveils Claudeforce to Rebut SaaSpocalypse Fears
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 26
Summary
More than 12% after hours, Salesforce shares surged as strong quarterly results and better-than-expected guidance undercut investor fears that AI would erode software subscription demand.
Benioff said AI is reinforcing, not replacing, Salesforce's business, arguing frontier models depend on CRM data, workflows, security and controls housed on the company's platform.
Nine of the 10 leading AI companies use Salesforce and Slack, Benioff said, with their spending on those platforms up 435% from a year earlier.
Claudeforce, launched Wednesday with Anthropic, lets sales teams use Claude on Salesforce customer data for tasks such as drafting emails and updating records, illustrating Salesforce's pitch as infrastructure for AI agents.
Salesforce stock had been down 22% this year through Wednesday's close, showing how sharply the latest results and AI narrative shift could reverse sentiment.