What Makes Salesforce (CRM) a Prospective Opportunity?

Oakmark Funds, advised by Harris Associates, has released its “Oakmark Equity and Income Fund” investor letter for Q2 2024. You can download a copy of the letter here . The fund returned -2.19% for the quarter compared to the 1.11% return of the Lipper Balanced Fund Index. The equity portfolio returned -3.97% for the quarter compared to the 4.28% return of the S&P 500 Index. The fixed income portfolio returned 0.75%. The fund has allocated its portfolio to equities 58.0%, fixed income 40.7%, and cash 1.3%. You can also check out the fund’s top 5 holdings to see its top picks for 2024.

Oakmark Equity and Income Fund highlighted stocks like Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) offers Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that connects businesses and customers. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s one-month return was 8.27%, and its stock has gained 9.50% of its value over the past 52 weeks. On July 11, 2024, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stock closed at $251.12 per share with a market capitalization of $243.335 billion.

In its Q2 2024 investor letter, Oakmark Equity and Income Fund announced the following information regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM):

“Salesforce, Inc. “(NYSE:CRM) is a leading technology company offering a suite of software products designed to provide companies with a complete suite of front-office productivity capabilities. We believe Salesforce is a great business in the process of transforming into a more profitable, shareholder-focused enterprise. Since management announced a renewed focus on operational discipline several years ago, Salesforce margins have improved significantly. We believe there is still room for improvement as management reduces real estate and continues to optimize the sales organization. Recently, concerns about the weakening software environment have provided us with an opportunity to buy the stock at a discount to private market valuations and at an attractive multiple of our normalized earnings estimate. We believe today’s price is too low for a leading software company with significant competitive advantages.”

An office-based customer service team communicating with customers using the company’s Customer 360 platform.

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) ranks 8th on our list of the 31 most popular stocks among hedge funds. According to our database, 154 hedge fund portfolios held Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 131 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) generated $9.13 billion in revenue, up 11% year over year on a nominal and constant currency basis. While we recognize the potential of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) as an investment, our belief is based on the belief that AI stocks offer a better chance of achieving higher returns in a shorter time frame. If you are looking for AI stocks that are as promising as NVIDIA but are trading at less than 5 times earnings, check out our report on cheapest AI action.

We have covered Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in another article and shared a list of the best AI stocks for the second half of 2024. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) comes in at #4 on the list. Also, check out our Q2 2024 Hedge Fund Investor Letters page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published on Insider Monkey.