Salesforce (CRM) Stock Jumps as $25B Buyback Gets Underway

TLDR

• Salesforce launched a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR) — the largest ASR in company history
• The buyback began on March 11, 2026, with an initial delivery of approximately 103 million shares
• The 103M shares represent roughly 80% of the total expected to be repurchased
• The $25B ASR is the first half of a $50 billion total buyback program authorized by the board in February 2026
• CRM stock was trading up ~2.5% in premarket trading Monday; final settlement is expected in Q3 or Q4 of FY2027

Salesforce (CRM) kicked off its $25 billion accelerated share repurchase program Monday, the largest ASR in its history, sending stock up about 2.5% before the opening bell.

Salesforce, Inc., CRM

The company confirmed the prepayment and initial delivery of around 103 million shares under ASR agreements signed on March 11, 2026, with a group of major financial institutions.

Those institutions are Banco Santander, Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, and Morgan Stanley. J. Wood Capital Advisors is serving as an advisor on the deal.

The 103 million shares handed over initially represent roughly 80% of the total shares expected to be bought back under this tranche. The exact final figure will be set by the volume-weighted average price of CRM stock over the life of the transaction, minus a discount, and subject to adjustments.

Robin Washington, Salesforce’s president and chief operating and financial officer, said the ASR reflects the company’s “increased conviction in the durability of its growth and cash flow trajectory.”

The $25 billion transaction is the immediate execution of exactly half of the $50 billion total share repurchase program that Salesforce’s board authorized in February 2026.

That $50 billion total program is one of the largest buyback authorizations in enterprise software history.

The Numbers Behind the Deal

The initial 103 million share delivery is based on CRM’s closing price on March 11, 2026 — the date the ASR agreements were entered into.

The final settlement of this $25 billion tranche is expected to land in either Q3 or Q4 of Salesforce’s fiscal year 2027.

At roughly 2.5% in premarket Monday, the market’s early read on the announcement was positive, though muted relative to the size of the program.

Salesforce has been under pressure from investors over the past year to put its growing cash pile to work, and the $50 billion authorization appears to be a direct answer to that.

What Comes Next

The remaining $25 billion of the total $50 billion authorization has not yet been deployed.

That second half could be executed through further ASR agreements or open market purchases, though Salesforce has not given a timeline.

The current ASR involves five major Wall Street banks, signaling a structured and tightly managed execution rather than a simple open market buyback.

The final number of shares repurchased under this tranche will only be confirmed once settlement is completed, which isn’t expected until late in FY2027.

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