New York, Feb 12, 2026, 11:16 a.m. EST — Regular session
- Salesforce shares down 1.6% in morning trade, near a fresh 52-week low
- Company agreed to buy AI product-discovery firm Cimulate; terms not disclosed
- Focus turns to Feb. 25 results for guidance on demand and AI rollout
Salesforce shares fell on Thursday, down 1.6% at $182.12 in morning trade. The stock is now nearly 30% lower than it was a month ago, and it has hovered just above its 52-week low as volume picked up. (Investing.com data)
The fresh dip comes days after Salesforce said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cimulate, an AI-powered product discovery company aimed at retailers. Salesforce did not disclose financial terms and said the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of its fiscal 2027. (Salesforce news release)
Salesforce framed the transaction as a way to push deeper into “agentic” commerce — shorthand for AI systems that can take actions, not just answer prompts. “The future of commerce is agentic,” Nitin Mangtani, a senior vice president and general manager at Salesforce, said. Cimulate CEO John Andrews said the tie-up would help “scale our technology” with large retailers. (Salesforce news release)
The timing matters because Salesforce is heading into results season with investors quick to punish any soft spot in forecasts. The company said it will report fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 25 after the close. (Salesforce investor relations)
Adding to the noise, Reuters reported on Tuesday that Salesforce was cutting fewer than 1,000 jobs, citing a Business Insider report and online posts. Salesforce has not commented on the report. (Reuters)
Outside the company, some industry watchers see the Cimulate deal as a tactical add-on rather than a swing-for-the-fences bet. “Salesforce is acquiring Cimulate because Agentforce Commerce required a retail grade intent intelligence engine,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research. (CIO)
That “intent” language has become a battleground in retail tech: instead of matching keywords, systems try to infer what a shopper actually wants from behavior and context. Salesforce is betting that matters as more shopping shifts toward conversational interfaces.
Still, the stock has been trading like a proxy for broader unease around enterprise software. A recent selloff across U.S. software names has been tied to fears that fast-advancing AI tools could compress pricing and disrupt service-heavy business models. (Reuters)
There’s also the simple risk that a small acquisition doesn’t change the next few quarters. If Salesforce’s Feb. 25 outlook points to slower cloud demand, higher AI costs, or choppy deal cycles, traders may keep leaning on the shares.
For now, investors are watching for any hints on Feb. 25 about whether AI products are pulling forward spending — or just reshuffling it — and whether management can steady expectations after a rough stretch for the stock. (Salesforce investor events)
