Salesforce shares fall for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, Marc Benioff to be sole CEO as Keith Block steps down

Salesforce.com Inc (CRM) said earlier this week that Keith Block had stepped down as co-Chief Executive Officer. As a result, Marc Benioff, who established the business software company in 1999, will remain sole CEO and will continue serving as Chairman.

Salesforce shares closed lower for a fourth consecutive trading session in New York on Wednesday. The stock went down 1.32% ($2.40) to $178.87, after touching an intraday low at $174.88, or a price level not seen since January 8th ($174.75).

Shares of Salesforce.com Inc have risen 9.98% so far in 2020 compared with a 3.54% loss for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2019, Salesforce’s stock went up 18.74%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 28.88% gain.

Total revenue went up 34.6% year-on-year to $4.85 billion during the quarter ended on January 31st, while exceeding the median analyst estimate ($4.75 billion).

The company now projects first-quarter revenue within the range of $4.88 billion to $4.89 billion, which compares with a market consensus of $4.84 billion.

Meanwhile, Salesforce posted a net loss of $248 million ($0.28 per share) during the quarter ended on January 31st, after reporting a net income of $362 million ($0.46 per share) in the same period a year ago.

Earnings per share, which exclude special items, were reported at $0.66 during the fiscal fourth quarter. In comparison, analysts on average had expected adjusted earnings of $0.56 per share.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 39 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Salesforce.com Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $212.00, with a high estimate of $250.00 and a low estimate of $165.00. The median estimate represents an 18.52% upside compared to the closing price of $178.87 on February 26th.

The same media also reported that at least 37 out of 43 surveyed investment analysts had rated Salesforce.com Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”.