Salesforce Climbs to 46th in Trading Volume with $1.66 Billion as Security Concerns and Activist Pressure Mount

Salesforce (CRM) rose 1.00% on August 22, 2025, with a trading volume of $1.66 billion, ranking 46th among stocks. The company faces renewed investor scrutiny due to security vulnerabilities linked to social engineering attacks targeting connected apps within its ecosystem. Despite Salesforce emphasizing that its core platform remains uncompromised, concerns over data exposure have intensified. Activist investor Starboard Value increased its stake in CRM by 50% amid the stock’s decline, signaling potential pressure for strategic changes.

The stock has fallen nearly 26% year-to-date, outpacing the broader CRM sector’s struggles. Competitors such as SAP and Microsoft have posted double-digit gains, highlighting Salesforce’s relative underperformance. Analysts attribute the sector-wide downturn to macroeconomic factors, including tighter IT budgets and reduced demand for upselling and seat expansion. Additionally, Salesforce’s recent security measures, such as restricting unauthorized connected apps, underscore the urgency to rebuild client trust.

A backtest of a strategy buying the top 500 high-volume stocks and holding them for one day from 2022 to 2025 yielded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.98%, with a peak drawdown of 15.59%. The approach showed steady returns but faced a notable decline in mid-2023, underscoring the risks of relying on trading volume as a proxy for performance in volatile markets.