CRM, or customer relationship management, is a hot industry. This is supported by digitization and rapid continuous change Advancement of technologyincluding AI. AI is well suited to automation, and customer service is an industry that can thrive with automation. 2024 business trends include double-digit growth, sequential acceleration, improved performance, and improved guidance suggesting the trends will continue. With high double-digit to triple-digit volumes and strong business trends in 2024, stock prices are also likely to continue. More trends in 2025.
Salesforce: Major Player in Customer Relationship Management
Salesforce today

(as of 12/17/2024 ET)
- 52-week range
- $212.00
▼
$369.00
- Dividend yield
- 0.46%
- P/E ratio
- 57.73
- Price target
- $377.24
Salesforce NYSE: CRM is the leading player in CRM, as shown in the numbers. The company is the largest in terms of market cap, revenue, and earnings power, and it uses its cash flow to fund growth investments, leading to consistent quarter-on-quarter performance. Revenue growth slowed in 2024 and will slow again in 2025 but to low double-digit figures that produce strong margins, strong cash flow, and the ability to return capital to investors. Capital returns include dividends and repurchases, with the bulk of returns repurchasing and reducing the number of shares. The dividend is young, and the company is in a position to increase it, which will be a tailwind for share prices over time.
Analysts provide another tailwind for the market. Analyst numbers are rising, moderate buy and sentiment on the firm is solid, and the consensus price target is rising, rising nearly 50% in 2024. A revised trend has likely reached new all-time highs in early 2025. Business trends, analysts’ forecasts for 2025 are solid but likely low and easily beat. The company can also increase the acquisition trend, by boosting the long-term outlook and improving valuation. As it is, CRM stock is overvalued at 35x this year’s earnings but in line with other top tech investments.
HubSpot: Increasing estimates and performing better
HubSpot today

(as of 12/17/2024 ET)
- 52-week range
- $434.84
▼
$762.47
- Price target
- $702.23
hubspot NYSE: Hubs is a small CRM firm that operates a cloud-based platform that offers automation tools, including live chat, call management and lead generation. Its growth is expected to slow in 2024 and again in 2025, but still reach solid rates of 20% and 15%, respectively, with strong potential to exceed expectations. The company Overcame the consensus 100% for over five years, backed by a growing customer base and deep service penetration. Regarding size, it is about 10% the size of Salesforce and a potential acquisition target.
Analyst sentiment favors action in 2024, and the consensus price target is rising but the market is lagging. A more important market force is institutional activity, which is strongly bullish in 2024. The institutional group owns more than 90% of the stock and is buying at a two-to-one pace compared to sellers.
Pegasystems: Turning to Development in F2025
Pegasystems Today

(as of 12/17/2024 ET)
- 52-week range
- $44.07
▼
$97.94
- Dividend yield
- 0.12%
- P/E ratio
- 70.55
- Price target
- $85.90
pegasystem’ NASDAQ: PEGA Results have been erratic over the years, producing growth in one quarter and contraction in the next. However, the company maintains a healthy cash flow, and has an outlook for next year A reversal for growth. Growth forecasts may be cautious as the company reported a strong backlog in Q3, which suggests it is gaining traction.
Analyst sentiment on the AI-powered automation stock remains firm at Medium Buy, and the price target is rising due to a bullish trend, but gains may be limited at the $100 level. This is consistent with the previous support level and the high-end of the analyst, which can only increase with strong results. As it is, analysts are raising their forecasts for CQ4 results but still keeping the bar low, expecting revenue to remain flat compared to last year.
Freshworks is poised for a major rebound in 2025
Freshworks Today

(as of 12/17/2024 ET)
- 52-week range
- $10.81
▼
$24.98
- Price target
- $18.69
Fresh work NASDAQ: FRSH CRM is the cheapest stock in the group, trading at 33 times this year’s earnings and on track to sustain 20% growth next year. Highlights for 2024 include 20% growth, strong performance, improved guidance, and sufficient cash flow to initiate share repurchases. The rights are worth $400 million, or about 7.75% of the market cap. Analysts’ reaction to the news was positive, resulting in a shift in sentiment. Analysts cooled on the name as early as 2024. Nevertheless, they started to heat up after the Q3 release, issuing several price target increases that led to the higher-end range, setting it up for a positive revision trend into 2025.
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