Salesforce really wants to counter the narrative that an AI-related “saaspocalypse” has endangered its growth.
So, alongside its record first-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Wednesday, the cloud software giant commenced its largest-ever accelerated share repurchase at $25 billion. In doing so, the company juiced its earnings per share but cut its full-year cash flow growth outlook roughly in half to account for the debt issued to fund the block share repurchase.
The $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR) is part of a $50 billion stock buyback authorization the Salesforce board approved in February 2026. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Salesforce returned $27.5 billion to shareholders, including $27.1 billion in the mega-share block purchase plus $365 million in dividends. The ASR included upfront delivery of 103 million shares and drove Salesforce’s diluted share count down 10% year over year.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said on Wednesday’s earnings video vodcast that the company has “returned record levels to our investors,” noting that it was especially important during “this unusual time.” Salesforce’s stock is down 16% year to date, and 36% below its 52-week high, as Wall Street frets that the advent of AI spells trouble for software-as-a-service vendors like Salesforce and ServiceNow.
