Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Be the Surprise Winner of the Software Sell-Off in 2026

Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Be the Surprise Winner of the Software Sell-Off in 2026

https://www.aol.com/articles/prediction-artificial-intelligence-ai-stock-133500399.html

Publish Date: 2026-03-19 09:44:00

Source Domain: www.aol.com

Here are the key points summarizing the article about Salesforce:

1. Successful AI Integration with Agentforce Platform: Salesforce’s Agentforce platform has closed 29,000 deals within 15 months and reached an annual revenue run rate of approximately $800 million.

2. AI-Driven Deal Growth: Companies using Salesforce’s Agentforce show amplified spending, increasing by two to four times, indicating broader market opportunities for Salesforce due to AI expansion.

3. Surprising Performance Amid AI Disruptions: Despite software sector struggles and AI-related concerns, Salesforce delivered strong fourth quarter earnings, including a 12% year-over-year revenue increase to $11.2 billion and a net income increase of 13.7% to $1.9 billion.

4. Healthy Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) and Large Deal Momentum: Salesforce ended fiscal 2026 with $72 billion in RPO. Large deal metrics demonstrate growth with an increase in deals over $1 million by 26% and deals over $10 million by 33% year over year.

5. Strong Ecosystem Reinforcement: AI-driven workflows lead to increased use of other Salesforce platforms, like Data Cloud, Tableau, and MuleSoft. Salesforce’s broad adoption of AI has processed over 19 trillion AI tokens.

6. Potential Underestimation by Investors: Concerns about software valuation and AI’s transformative impact have affected shares but Salesforce is deeply embedded in essential enterprise workflows; hence, customers might not shift away from its platform.

7. Positive Sentiment from Company Actions: Salesforce’s $50 billion share repurchase program reflects management’s confidence in long-term growth, positioning the company well to surprise investors in 2026.

8. Note on Investment Considerations: Despite Salesforce’s strong performance, it was not included in The Motley Fool Stock Advisor’s list for the top 10 stocks for investors to buy based on potential for significant returns.