Salesforce (CRM) Stock Surges as Jim Cramer Says AI Fears Were Overstated
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares surged 22.6% on August 27 after the company reported fiscal second-quarter 2027 results that challenged a major concern in the software sector: that artificial intelligence could weaken the seat-based model that has long driven enterprise SaaS. Jim Cramer, on Mad Money on August 27, said that the bearish case extended beyond pressure on software seats to the possibility that AI companies could eventually displace application vendors.
They believed that it would become obvious to everyone that the whole software as a service space was a dying model because they charge per seat and with AI, you simply won’t need as many people to work at your company. So Salesforce had to charge less.
The expanded Anthropic relationship provides a counterpoint to the displacement thesis. Salesforce and Anthropic launched Claudeforce, integrating Claude with Salesforce’s data, workflows, and business logic.
Fiscal Q2 2027 Results Challenge the Immediate Bear Case
Salesforce, Inc.’s (NYSE:CRM) latest results provided little evidence of an immediate collapse in demand. Revenue reached $11.3 billion, up 11% year over year, while current remaining performance obligation rose 14% to $33.5 billion. Subscription and support revenue reached $10.8 billion, up 12% year over year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 34.1%. Furthermore, Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up over 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion, up over 240% year over year.
Salesforce also said bookings from its premium Agentforce offerings more than doubled quarter over quarter. The company raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $46.1 billion to $46.4 billion, representing growth of 11% to 12% year over year. Cramer pointed to the metrics most relevant to the displacement thesis:
They delivered their strongest net new annual order value growth in four years. All seats grew year-over-year. Pricing was strong. Attrition was near its lowest level ever.
Bear Case Has Not Disappeared
AI could still reduce the importance of human software seats as agents increasingly interact directly with enterprise data and applications. The more consequential risk is that AI changes the economics of software before Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) can replace seat-based revenue with consumption- or outcome-based pricing. Frontier AI companies also remain potential competitors even as they partner with established software vendors. While that makes Salesforce’s expanded relationship with Anthropic strategically important, it is not necessarily proof of a permanent competitive alignment.
