Salesforce slips as Baird downgrades, citing weak macro, recent chief executive (CRM) exodus

Sales force (NYSE:CRM) shares fell slightly in premarket trading on Thursday as investment firm Baird downgraded the cloud computing giant, citing weak macro conditions and the recent departures of two executives. Key.

Analyst Rob Oliver downgraded his rating on SalesForce (CRM) to neutral from outstanding performance, noting that the company’s revenue growth could be hit by a weakening global economy and “seat-based software pressure” due to layoffs recently and hiring slowed down in some of the company’s clients.

Regarding the departure of the co-CEO Brett TaylorSlack Co-Founder Stewart Butterfield and Other Salesforce (CRM) chief executive, Oliver said he didn’t want to speculate on why they left, but that it could add to the “risk of execution”.

“While we do not wish to speculate on the reasons behind these departures, we believe the recent rotation of executives adds to some enforcement risks, especially at this level. hey,” Oliver wrote in a note to clients. “While we weren’t surprised to see Slack’s departure following Taylor’s announcement (he was a supporter of the Slack acquisition), it still represents an increased risk.”

Other sales force (CRM) have left in recent months, including Chief Product Officer Tamar Yehoshua and Senior Vice President of Marketing, Branding and Communications Jonathan Prince.

Additionally, Oliver noted that recent macro softness, which Salesforce (CRM) released during the third-quarter earnings call, which could lead to revenue pressures in 2023, as marketing spending “easily/quickly retracts” and less expansion in sales and service sales more in increased recruitment.

As a result, the analyst downgraded his 2024 financial estimate.

Speaking at a UBS conference earlier this week, Salesforce (CRM) CFO Amy Weaver emphasized that although “people love trying to connect the dots”, especially the departures of Taylor and Butterfield “are completely unrelated events.”

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