Salesforce Q1 Earnings Preview: Focus on Agentic AI and Informatica Acquisition

Salesforce (CRM), the global leader in customer relationship management software, will report fiscal Q1 2026 earnings on Wednesday after the close. While Nvidia may dominate the post-close headlines, Salesforce’s results carry significance for those tracking the next wave of enterprise AI. The company is at an inflection point: its core growth has decelerated, and Wall Street wants proof that Salesforce’s Agentforce and Data Cloud can justify its valuation. The backdrop to Wednesday’s report now includes the $8 billion acquisition of Informatica (INFA), a move designed to strengthen Salesforce’s AI and data infrastructure just as it seeks to reposition itself as the leader in AI-powered CRM.

Watch: CFRA Analyst Angelo Zino discusses the big week of tech earnings.

Expectations for Q1 2026

Analysts expect Salesforce to report EPS of $2.55 on revenue of $9.75 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 4.1% and 6.6% respectively. Guidance for Q1 was modest: management previously guided EPS of $2.53–$2.55 on revenue of $9.71–$9.76 billion, both of which fell below consensus at the time. Salesforce’s prior quarter featured a revenue miss and a reduced full-year forecast, which put further pressure on this week’s results to stabilize investor sentiment. Investors will be watching for updates to FY26 guidance, currently set at $11.09–$11.17 EPS and revenue between $40.5–$40.9 billion.

Analysts have offered mixed signals going into the print. BMO Capital anticipates “largely in-line” results with FY26 guidance unchanged. Oppenehimer believes the setup looks favorable as expectations are muted, and any upside in Current RPO (cRPO) growth—which could come in at or above 10%—may help shift the narrative toward stabilization. However, Jefferies and D.A. Davidson are more cautious, flagging execution risk and a still-nascent AI monetization story.

Key Metrics to Watch

Beyond top-line and EPS, investors will closely monitor growth in RPO and cRPO (a proxy for near-term bookings), margin trends, and adoption of AI-driven tools. Salesforce ended FY25 with $63.4 billion in RPO, up 11% YoY, but has not yet shown a meaningful acceleration from Agentforce. Last quarter, Data Cloud and AI were said to be on a $900 million annualized revenue run rate—a figure Salesforce will need to grow rapidly to satisfy bullish investors.

Operating margin, which jumped sharply in early 2023 thanks to cost-cutting, has plateaued. Q1 commentary will be scrutinized to see if further expansion is possible, particularly as the company juggles integration costs tied to its newest acquisition.

Agentforce and the AI Narrative

CEO Marc Benioff continues to tout Agentforce as transformational, citing 3,000 paying customers and referring to the rise of "digital labor" as a multi-trillion dollar opportunity. But analysts remain skeptical of near-term financial returns. Stifel and OpCo note there’s strong interest in Agentforce, with an abundance of proof-of-concept deals, but execution and monetization remain unclear. The new Flex Credit system could alleviate pricing friction, but adoption timelines remain murky.

Jefferies and Guggenheim both suggest that Agentforce is a long-duration theme—worth monitoring, but not yet contributing meaningfully to growth. Meanwhile, D.A. Davidson warns that Salesforce is stretching itself thin, chasing AI at the expense of its core CRM and Sales Cloud franchises.

The Informatica Acquisition: Strategic and Timely

On Tuesday, Salesforce announced its largest acquisition since buying Slack in 2021: an $8 billion all-cash deal for Informatica (INFA), a leader in enterprise cloud data management. The $25-per-share offer implies a 30% premium over pre-rumor levels and a valuation of roughly 4.5x FY26 sales—modest by Salesforce standards.

INFA offers robust capabilities in data integration, governance, quality, and metadata management, all of which enhance Salesforce’s Data Cloud and its ability to support agentic AI. Informatica’s client base includes global enterprises like Unilever and Deloitte, and its services will directly augment Salesforce’s mission to deliver clean, trusted data to AI agents. Strategically, this bolsters Salesforce’s positioning versus competitors like Snowflake and Microsoft’s Dynamics 365.

Salesforce expects the acquisition to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings in its second year post-close and plans to fund it through a mix of cash and debt. The deal is expected to close in early FY27.

Implications for Salesforce's Valuation and Strategy

The market reaction—CRM shares rose on news of the acquisition—is unusual for an acquirer, but reflects confidence in the deal’s strategic alignment and disciplined valuation. With INFA’s recurring revenue model and strong position in enterprise data orchestration, Salesforce has a clear path to monetizing its Agentforce platform more effectively.

However, challenges remain. The company must balance integration risk with ongoing macro pressures, including slowing enterprise software budgets, increasing competition, and a market that’s losing patience with unfulfilled AI promises. Recent field checks point to a mixed macro environment, where pipelines are stable but new bookings are slowing.

Conclusion

Salesforce’s Q1 earnings come at a pivotal moment. The company is navigating slowing core growth, a high valuation, and investor fatigue around underdelivered AI narratives. The $8 billion purchase of Informatica adds pressure but also injects new promise—strengthening the foundation for Salesforce’s AI transformation by fortifying its data stack.

If Salesforce can deliver solid Q1 results, show cRPO growth, and present a credible roadmap for Agentforce monetization while easing concerns around the Informatica deal’s execution, it could turn sentiment around. But if revenue disappoints and the integration narrative is vague, expect the market to continue questioning whether Salesforce’s AI aspirations are real—or just another story.