Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) just won itself a new bull with Morgan Stanley analysts predicting that the artificial intelligence wave will help propel the software maker’s shares to record levels.
Even though Salesforce has surged 96% this year, Morgan Stanley’s Keith Weiss’s new price target of $350 sees a further 34% gain for the stock over the next 12 months, far surpassing 2021’s all-time high.
The stock rose as much as 2.2% in U.S. premarket trading after Weiss hiked his recommendation to overweight from equal-weight, turning positive on the stock since a downgrade over the summer. The shares are now situated at $265.38, an improvement of $5.20, or 2%, from Wednesday.
“Low investor expectations versus potential top-line upside drivers in price increases, product bundling and data cloud adoption, frame an attractive risk-reward for Salesforce,” Weiss wrote in a note.
It may take time for artificial intelligence to fully take off. But Weiss sees Salesforce’s data cloud suite gaining traction with companies preparing for the eventual wide adoption of the technology.
While Weiss’s outlook for the stock is particularly bullish, with consensus predicting just 7.7% of upside for Salesforce over the next year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, analysts have previously touted the company as a beneficiary of the advancement of artificial intelligence.
