Salesforce (CRM) Q2 2026: Data Cloud Customer Growth Hits 140%, Fueling Agentic Enterprise Expansion

2025-09-03 | By EarningsIQ Research

Salesforce’s Q2 results underscore a decisive pivot to agentic enterprise, with Data Cloud and AgentForce driving triple-digit growth and reshaping the business model. The company’s multi-segment strategy and disciplined capital allocation support durable margin expansion, while rapid adoption of AI-native capabilities signals a new era for SaaS. With a record operating cash flow outlook and a $20 billion buyback expansion, Salesforce’s execution and innovation cycle show no signs of slowing as it enters the next phase of AI-driven transformation.

Summary

• Agentic Enterprise Vision Accelerates: AI-native AgentForce and Data Cloud adoption are transforming customer workflows and Salesforce’s own operations.
• Multi-Segment Growth Engine: SMB and mid-market momentum, alongside enterprise and public sector traction, diversify the revenue base.
• Capital Return and M&A Discipline: Share repurchase authorization expands by $20 billion, with targeted acquisitions reinforcing the AI and data platform moat.

Performance Analysis

Salesforce delivered a standout Q2, with revenue rising 10% year-over-year to $10.25 billion, driven by broad-based strength across subscription, support, and professional services. The company’s non-GAAP operating margin expanded to 34.3%, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of margin improvement—a testament to operational discipline and the impact of AI-driven efficiencies. Current Remaining Performance Obligation (CRPO) reached $29.4 billion, up 11% YoY, reflecting robust underlying demand and strong sales execution, particularly in large deals and SMB segments.

Data Cloud and AgentForce, Salesforce’s core AI and data platforms, posted 120% and 140% YoY customer growth, respectively, with over 40% of new bookings coming from existing customers expanding usage. The consumption-based model, including FlexCredits, is gaining traction, now accounting for 80% of AgentForce Q2 bookings. Geographically, U.S. and select EMEA markets outperformed, while the UK and Japan remained constrained. Industry-wise, technology, communications, and media led, offsetting measured spending in retail, consumer goods, and public sector verticals.

• AI Consumption Model Gains Momentum: FlexCredits and pay-as-you-go options are lowering adoption barriers, driving faster pilot-to-production transitions and deeper customer engagement.
• Operational Leverage from AI: Salesforce’s own support headcount fell by nearly 40%, as digital agents now handle millions of customer interactions with CSAT parity to humans.
• Booking Acceleration in Core and Growth Segments: Net new bookings from $1 million-plus deals grew 26% YoY, and pipeline for large deals is up nearly 20% heading into H2.

Cash flow generation remains a core strength, with operating cash flow guidance raised sharply to nearly $15 billion for the year, enabling both aggressive capital return and strategic M&A. The company’s ability to balance innovation investment with margin delivery is a differentiated lever as the agentic enterprise vision scales globally.

Executive Commentary

Strategic Positioning

1. Agentic Enterprise as a Platform Shift

Salesforce is positioning itself as the foundational infrastructure for the agentic enterprise, embedding AI-native agents and data orchestration into every product. This isn’t incremental automation—it is a fundamental re-architecture of workflows, blending human and digital labor for measurable productivity gains. The company’s own deployment serves as a showcase, with agents now resolving support cases, qualifying leads, and orchestrating field service at scale.

2. Data Cloud as the AI Foundation

Data Cloud, Salesforce’s unified data platform, is now core to the company’s value proposition and customer outcomes. Over half of the Fortune 500 are on Data Cloud, and usage is compounding—326% growth in rows accessed via zero-copy integration. The platform’s role in powering accurate, context-rich AI agents is a key differentiator, with the Informatica acquisition set to further cement this foundation for enterprise customers.

3. Multi-Segment and Industry Diversification

Salesforce’s five-segment strategy—spanning SMB, mid-market, enterprise, government, and ISVs— is driving resilient growth and reducing dependency on any single vertical. SMB and mid-market segments are outpacing enterprise growth, as AI democratizes capabilities for smaller customers. Meanwhile, public sector and IT service management (ITSM) present new, underpenetrated growth vectors, with government adoption accelerating post-FedRAMP certification.

4. Capital Allocation and Inorganic Innovation

The $20 billion buyback expansion signals confidence in durable cash flow, while targeted acquisitions (Convergence AI, Bluebirds, Regrello, and pending Informatica) bring differentiated talent and technology to accelerate the agentic roadmap. Management’s “trinity” framework—balancing buybacks, dividends, and M&A—reflects a disciplined, multi-year approach to shareholder value creation.

5. Consumption-Based Monetization and FlexCredits

Salesforce is shifting its go-to-market to usage-based pricing, with FlexCredits and pay-as-you-go models now mainstream for AgentForce. This lowers friction for experimentation, shortens sales cycles, and aligns revenue with customer value realization—key for scaling AI adoption across customer cohorts.

Key Considerations

This quarter marks a strategic inflection as Salesforce operationalizes its agentic enterprise vision, but the pace and breadth of transformation introduce both opportunity and complexity for investors to monitor.

Key Considerations:

• AI Platform Stickiness: Deep integration of AgentForce and Data Cloud into customer workflows increases switching costs and embeds Salesforce deeper into enterprise architectures.
• Mid-Market and SMB Outperformance: AI is leveling the playing field, enabling smaller customers to adopt enterprise-grade automation and driving segment outperformance.
• Margin Expansion from Digital Labor: Salesforce’s own 40% support headcount reduction demonstrates the margin potential as customers scale agentic deployments.
• Balanced Capital Deployment: The enlarged buyback and strategic M&A pipeline provide both near-term return and long-term innovation leverage.
• Industry and Geographic Pockets of Weakness: Retail, consumer goods, and specific geographies (UK, Japan) remain measured, requiring ongoing execution focus.

Risks

Key risks include: potential for overestimation of AI-driven top-line acceleration given early-stage adoption curves, execution risk around large-scale Data Cloud and AgentForce deployments, and integration risk with pending Informatica acquisition. Macro headwinds in key international markets and measured spending in retail and public sector verticals could moderate growth if not offset by continued diversification and product innovation.

Forward Outlook

For Q3, Salesforce guided to:

• Revenue between $10.24 billion and $10.29 billion, representing 8% to 9% YoY growth
• CRPO growth slightly above 10% YoY in nominal terms, with a $300 million FX tailwind

For full-year 2026, management raised guidance:

• Revenue of $41.1 to $41.3 billion, up 8.5% to 9% YoY
• Non-GAAP operating margin of 34.1%, up 10 basis points
• Operating cash flow growth of 12% to 13%

Management highlighted several factors that will drive results:

• Momentum in Data Cloud and AgentForce adoption, particularly in existing customer expansions
• Continued operational leverage from digital agents and disciplined capital allocation

Takeaways

Salesforce’s Q2 results validate the company’s pivot to an AI-native, agentic enterprise model, with Data Cloud and AgentForce at the core of both product innovation and financial performance.

• AI-Driven Transformation: Agentic enterprise is moving from vision to reality, driving measurable productivity gains and stickier customer relationships.
• Margin and Cash Flow Strength: Operating leverage from digital labor and disciplined portfolio management underpin durable margin expansion and record cash flow.
• Watch for AI Monetization Curve: Investors should track the pace at which AI adoption and consumption-based pricing translate into sustained top-line acceleration and segment outperformance.

Conclusion

Salesforce’s Q2 marks a decisive inflection point, with agentic enterprise adoption and Data Cloud scaling rapidly across segments. The company’s ability to blend innovation, operational discipline, and capital returns positions it as a leader in the next era of enterprise software. Execution on AI monetization and integration of recent acquisitions will be critical to sustaining this trajectory.

Industry Read-Through

Salesforce’s agentic enterprise push signals a broad industry shift toward AI-native business models, with data orchestration and digital labor becoming table stakes for SaaS providers. The rapid adoption of consumption-based pricing and the integration of AI agents into core workflows will likely become the new standard across enterprise software. Competitors lacking deep data platforms or struggling with pilot-to-production conversion risk falling behind as customers increasingly demand measurable ROI from AI investments. Public sector and mid-market acceleration highlight underpenetrated growth vectors for the entire software industry, while margin expansion through digital labor sets a new benchmark for operational excellence.

CRM Technology Software AI Cloud Agentic Enterprise Data Cloud Consumption Model