CRM Analysis: Salesforce Hits 52-Week Low Ahead of Earnings — Is the AI Disruption Sell-Off Overdone?
Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) shares plunged to a fresh 52-week low of $174.57 on February 23, 2026, closing at $178.16 — down 3.8% on the day and a staggering 43% below the stock's 52-week high of $313.70. The decline hasn't been driven by deteriorating fundamentals. Instead, a broad-based SaaS sell-off, fueled by fears that AI will disrupt traditional enterprise software business models, has dragged Salesforce down alongside the entire cloud software sector. The timing makes this an especially consequential moment for investors. Salesforce reports fiscal Q4 2026 earnings on February 25 — just two days away — with analysts expecting approximately $11.2 billion in revenue. The company has delivered three consecutive quarters of revenue above $9.8 billion, expanded operating margins past 21%, and generated over $13 billion in annual free cash flow. Yet the market is pricing CRM at just 23.8x trailing earnings, its lowest valuation multiple in years. The central question facing investors is straightforward: Is Salesforce a casualty of indiscriminate sector rotation, or is the market correctly pricing in a genuine structural threat from AI-native competitors? The answer likely depends on whether Salesforce's own AI strategy — centered on its Agentforce platform — can drive the next leg of growth rather than becoming a victim of the technology it helped pioneer.