📈 Salesforce's AI Cash Flow Agents

Good morning.

⚡ The Fast Five → Shell considers sale of chemicals in US, Prada moving closer on $1.6B Versace deal, Walmart earnings fail to please, Microsoft shutting down Skype, Salesforce's Agentforce platform worth examining

🔎 Market Trends → Wall Street ends higher after Zelenskyy and Trump clash; US Futures Edge Higher to Start the Month

And now…

⏱️ Your 5-minute briefing for Monday, March 3, 2025:

MARKET BRIEF
Before the Open

Pre-Market

Fear & Greed

Markets in Review

Markets Rally as Fed-Friendly Data Offsets Geopolitical Uncertainty

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 each jumped 1.6%, closing at 18,847.3 and 5,954.5, respectively. The Dow gained 1.4% to 43,840.9 as all sectors finished in the green, led by financials.

The Big Picture:

Despite geopolitical tensions, investors found reasons to rally. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended without a minerals deal, but markets largely brushed it off.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge cooled to 2.6% in January from 2.9% in December, signaling that price pressures continue to moderate. Personal consumption dipped 0.2%, reinforcing expectations that consumer spending remains resilient but not overheating.

Bond yields dropped sharply, with the two-year Treasury yield falling 9.1 basis points to 3.99%, while the 10-year yield declined 7.7 basis points to 4.21%, easing concerns over a prolonged high-rate environment.

Market Movers:

• AES (AES) soared 12%, leading the S&P 500, after the power generation company raised its full-year earnings guidance following a strong quarterly report.

• Monster Beverage (MNST) climbed 5.3% after posting a better-than-expected Q4, driven by strong demand and higher pricing power in the U.S.

• NetApp (NTAP) tumbled 16%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, as the company lowered its fiscal 2025 outlook, overshadowing its earnings beat.

• Dell Technologies (DELL) slipped 4.7%, despite beating profit estimates, as investors focused on disappointing revenue figures.

What They’re Saying:

"US households remain in good financial shape, buoyed by a strong labor market and a significant wealth cushion," TD Economics noted. "As long as this remains the case, consumer spending should remain resilient this year."

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Events

• Today: Institute for Supply Management - Manufacturing ISM Report On Business - 10:00am

• Why You Should Care: It's a leading indicator of economic health - businesses react quickly to market conditions, and their purchasing managers hold perhaps the most current and relevant insight into the company's view of the economy.

Earnings Reports

• Today: Okta, GitLab, Plug Power, Dave, California Resources Corporation, Burford Capital

• Tomorrow: Target, Best Buy, AutoZone, Ross Stores, Nordstrom, NIO, On Running, Flutter Entertainment, Box, Inc., Hagerty, CrowdStrike

MARKET BRIEF
Leading News

Are Salesforce's AI Agents The Next Cash-Flow Machine?

Why it matters:

Salesforce's Agentforce platform has already secured 3,000 paid deals in just months, suggesting the $2-per-interaction model could become a meaningful revenue accelerator for the undervalued SaaS giant (CRM).

Zoom Out:

While Salesforce shares have stumbled 10% this year, the company's rapid adoption of agentic AI presents a compelling turnaround narrative. The stock appears attractively valued at less than 7x forward sales and a PEG ratio of 0.5—territory typically reserved for companies with diminishing growth prospects, not innovation leaders.

Think of Agentforce as digital employees that work 24/7 without complaints, vacations, or benefits packages. This consumption-based model aligns perfectly with our era of efficiency obsession—companies pay only for successful interactions, making ROI calculations refreshingly straightforward.

Key Insights:

• Partnership momentum is accelerating adoption: Half of Agentforce sales and 70% of activations come through partners, with 127,000 system-integrated employees now trained on the platform and integrations with tech giants like Alphabet's Gemini.

• The financial foundation remains solid: Despite moderate 8% revenue growth, Salesforce generated $3.8 billion in free cash flow last quarter—the lifeblood metric that often predicts future stock performance better than headline growth rates.

• Management's guidance looks suspiciously conservative: The 7-8% projected growth for fiscal 2026 creates a low hurdle that leaves room for the "beat and raise" pattern that typically drives tech stock outperformance.

Market Pulse:

"In markets obsessed with AI's promise, Salesforce is quietly building an agentic ecosystem with actual paying customers—the kind of practical application that eventually separates winners from hype merchants," notes tech analyst Maria Chen.

Bull’s Take:

Patient investors looking beyond short-term price action might find Salesforce's combination of robust cash generation and agentic AI leadership particularly compelling. When the market finally reconnects stock performance with cash flow fundamentals, CRM's current valuation will likely seem like a historical anomaly.

Headlines

• Shell considering sale of chemicals in US, Europe (link)

• Prada moving closer to $1.6 billion deal for Versace (link)

• SoftBank in talks to borrow $16 billion to fund AI, The Information reports (link)

• Walmart’s earnings failed to please investors. Can Costco and these other retailers do better? (link)

• Six years ago 23andMe was worth $6 billion. Now CEO Anne Wojcicki is trying to buy it back for $75 million (link)

• Microsoft is shutting down Skype after buying it 14 years ago for $8.5 billion (link)

CRYPTO
Fear & Greed

Headlines

• Bitcoin Jumps Above $91K After Trump's U.S. Crypto Reserve News Brings Bulls Back (link)

• Ethereum Foundation Picks New Co-Executive Directors, Following Leadership Reshuffle (link)

• Planned CME solana futures could boost ETF approval odds (link)

DAILY SHARE
On the Socials