$CRM

Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target for Salesforce (CRM) to $300, citing its open-platform strategy as a defense against AI disruption. The firm believes Salesforce can remain integral to enterprise tech stacks. Recent growth includes contributions from acquisitions like Informatica, which added $456M in Q2. Hedge funds remain bullish, with 99 holding positions in Q2.

Palantir (PLTR) fell 7% despite winning a U.S. Army production contract for TITAN systems, as software sector weakness overshadowed the defense win. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) dropped 3%, while the defense ETF (ITA) declined 0.7%. Salesforce (CRM) also slipped 1%. Palantir's stock price is influenced by software sector trends rather than defense contractor movements.

US stocks rose 1%+ on Thursday as Fed Governor Waller's remarks eased rate hike fears. Nasdaq led gains, boosted by AI-related megacap stocks. Nvidia gained 1.8% on a $12.9B acquisition, while Broadcom dropped 2.7% on weak forecasts. Snowflake surged 16.6% after strong revenue guidance. Crypto-linked stocks rose with bitcoin's rebound.

CNBC Investing Club raises price targets for Microsoft (to $550) and Salesforce (to $290) after both stocks rallied due to AI-related gains. Microsoft is up 25% since July earnings, while Salesforce has gained 29% since August. The S&P 500 is on track for its best session since early August, driven by falling Treasury yields and Fed rate hike expectations.

Wall Street rose after Fed's Waller suggested a rate hold if inflation cools. Traders reduced rate hike bets, but inflation concerns persist. Broadcom fell 4.9% on weak revenue forecast, while Snowflake surged 20.14% on strong outlook. Crypto-linked stocks gained as bitcoin rebounded. U.S. services sector activity picked up in August, and job data is awaited.

NVIDIA (NVDA) shares rose 4.7% after reporting 105.9% revenue growth to $96.22 billion, with data center revenue up 117%. HP (HPQ) may drop 9% after reporting $15.68 billion in revenue and restructuring charges. Salesforce (CRM) could gain 13% with 10.8% revenue growth to $11.35 billion and cRPO of $33.5 billion.

Several software stocks rose after Treasury yields fell and Snowflake reported strong earnings. Datadog (DDOG) +2.7%, Amplitude (AMPL) +2.6%, Zscaler (ZS) +2.4%, DocuSign (DOCU) +2%, Salesforce (CRM) +3.5%. Snowflake's revenue grew 35% YoY to $1.55B, boosting sector sentiment.

Salesforce attributes its reduced profit margin guidance to significant spending on Claude tokens from Anthropic, a partner in AI development. Deputy CFO Mike Spencer noted that the company's Q2 operating margin was 20.5%, with a full-year forecast of 20.1%. Salesforce is now optimizing AI model usage to balance costs and efficiency, according to Spencer.

Palantir (PLTR) rose 7% after expanding its PwC alliance, countering Michael Burry's short thesis. ServiceNow (NOW) and Salesforce (CRM) also gained 5% and 3%, respectively, as enterprise AI momentum broadened. Palantir's Q2 revenue grew 93% YoY to $1.935B, and it raised its full-year outlook to $8.15B. Burry cited concerns over accounts receivable and customer concentration.

Analysts from Needham and Bernstein maintained Buy ratings on Salesforce (CRM) and Disco (DISPF). CRM has a $400 price target from Berg, while DISPF has a ¥99,000 target from Dai. CRM's consensus target is $269.14, and DISPF's is $580.04.