Salesforce And Why This Is The Year Of 'Einstein'

According to DA Davidson analyst Jack Andrews, you don’t have to be a genius to see that salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM)’s 2017 will be all about Einstein.

Einstein is Salesforce’s recently-launched artificial intelligence technology that is now integrated into the company’s cloud services platform.

DA Davidson attended Salesforce’s customer kickoff event, and Andrews noted several key takeaways.

“CRM believes Einstein furthers its vision of achieving a single customer view, with specific use cases around predictive marketing, assisted service, guided sales, unified commerce, actionable analytics, etc.” Andrews explains.

Related Link: Salesforce Remains A Favorite Among Cloud Stocks In 2017

In addition to the standalone potential of Einstein, Salesforce believes its partnership with International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) will help unlock the full potential of both Einstein and IBM’s Watson. Dual customers will be able to realize the full power of the two companies’ unique databases and solutions.

“For example, one could combine information about local shopping and weather patterns from Watson with precise customer preferences from Salesforce to send highly targeted marketing emails,” Andrews says.

In terms of the financial implications of the Einstein rollout, DA Davidson now believes any potential Salesforce M&A plans will be on hold for the time being.

Management reiterated its previous guidance of $10.15-$10.20 billion in revenue for fiscal 2018.

DA Davidson maintains its Neutral rating on Salesforce stock, but has upped its price target from $80 to $88.

Image: Brad Montgomery, Flickr