BofA analyst Tal Liani upgraded Salesforce to ‘Buy’ from ‘Underperform’, and lifted the price target to $285 from $160.
- Liani stated that artificial intelligence should not disrupt, but rather “deepen dependence” on the software name.
- Salesforce plans to integrate Loops’ AI-powered analytics technology into Tableau to help customers identify performance drivers.
- The firm expects the acquisition to close in early November of its fiscal 2027 year, subject to customary closing conditions.
Salesforce (CRM) shares rallied in morning trade on Monday after the company announced it had acquired artificial intelligence (AI) startup Loops, and received a double upgrade from Bank of America (BofA).
CRM stock gained as much as 3.6% at market open. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the shares continued to trend in ‘neutral’ territory over the past over the past day, alongside ‘normal’ levels of chatter.
The uptick came after BofA analyst Tal Liani upgraded Salesforce to ‘Buy’ from ‘Underperform’ with a price target of $285, up from $160. The target implies a potential upside of nearly 20% from Friday’s close.
In a note to investors cited by TheFly, Liani stated that artificial intelligence should not disrupt, but rather “deepen dependence” on the software name. He added that conversations with CIOs and other market participants suggested that large enterprises are unlikely to replace platforms that house their business logic, data, workflows and compliance frameworks.
Salesforce Acquires AI Analytics Startup Loops
Salesforce said Monday that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Loops, an AI-powered analytics platform that monitors business performance, explains changes in key metrics and identifies opportunities for improvement using machine learning.
The company said the acquisition is intended to advance Salesforce’s strategy for agentic analytics, which uses AI agents to help customers understand what is driving business results and determine what actions to take.
Salesforce plans to integrate Loops’ technology into Tableau, its data visualization and analytics platform.
“Tableau’s mission has been helping people see, understand and act on data. Loops accelerates this mission, using powerful agentic AI to uncover the drivers behind business performance and surface where teams and agents can take action in real time,” said Mark Recher, executive vice president and general manager of Tableau.
The transaction is expected to close in early November next year.
CRM stock has gained nearly 10% this year and around 6% in the last 12 months.
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