We recently published a list of 12 Best Enterprise Software Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stands against other best enterprise software stocks to buy now.
In 2024, the global enterprise market size was estimated at $263.79 billion, according to Grand View Research. It’s expected to now grow at a CAGR of 12.1% from 2025 to 2030, due to the increasing demand for automated and integrated solutions. Enterprise software becomes more desirable as organizations seek reduced reliance on HR to eliminate manual errors and automate routine tasks. Therefore, ERP (enterprise resource planning), CRM (customer relationship management), and data analytics software are becoming increasingly popular.
Enterprise software is actively transforming with the integration of AI technologies, which changes how it’s designed, deployed, and utilized. According to Endava, GenAI is driving this transformation by incorporating creative and analytical capabilities into enterprise applications. This enables software to undergo intelligent tasks like generating reports, creating personalized training materials, and writing codes. AI not only automates manual jobs but also allows hyper-personalization of customer-facing enterprise software. This allows platforms like CRM and e-commerce to deliver targeted content and recommendations, which leads to higher customer satisfaction and improved sales. This is fueled by adaptive AI-enhanced enterprise software that learns from vast datasets to provide real-time and individualized interactions.
AI-driven automation is also becoming more popular in core business processes. ERP and workflow management systems are automating complex tasks and reducing manual intervention to improve overall efficiency. Enterprises are streamlining operations and making data-driven solutions through the integration of now-standard features like process mining, intelligent document processing, and predictive analytics. Agentic AI is further pushing enterprise software towards greater autonomy. These are AI systems that act like human agents and autonomously perceive, reason, and analyze data to achieve certain goals. As enterprise software continues to integrate advanced AI capabilities in its regular applications, the technology becomes more proactive and intelligent.
Our Methodology
We sifted through ETFs and financial media reports to compile a list of the top enterprise software stocks. We then selected the 12 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024. The hedge fund data was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database which tracks the moves of over 900 elite money managers.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Is Salesforce Inc. (CRM) the Best Enterprise Software Stock to Buy Now?
A customer service team in an office setting using the company's Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers.
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) offers CRM technology to connect global companies and customers. Its lead offerings include Agentforce, Data Cloud, Industries AI, Salesforce Starter, Slack, Tableau, and MuleSoft. It also provides a marketing platform, commerce services, and field service solutions that enable companies to connect service agents, dispatchers, and mobile employees through a centralized platform.
The company’s unified platform includes the Customer 360 platform, Data Cloud, and Agentforce AI product line. These together integrate CRM applications, data management, and AI-powered automation and drive most of the company’s growth. In only 90 days, the company acquired 3,000 paying customers for Agentforce. It integrates AI agents into core applications and automates customer service inquiries, sales processes, and other workflows.
Data Cloud is the foundation for Agentforce and provides the necessary data for AI-powered automation. It surpassed 50 trillion records and doubled year-over-year. Fueled by this platform, the company’s FQ4 2025 revenue rose by 8% year-over-year. Data Cloud and AI ARR grew by 120%. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) now projects FY26 revenue to improve by 7% to 8% growth. On March 26, Kirk Materne from Evercore ISI maintained a Buy rating on Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) with a $420 price target.
Parnassus Growth Equity Fund stated the following regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) reported third-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ expectations, as the integration of AI technology across the customer relationship management software company’s product offerings has driven robust growth in new deals.”
Overall, CRM ranks 1st on our list of best enterprise software stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the growth potential of CRM, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
