Salesforce to $1 Trillion? More Like a Trillion Reasons to Roll My Eyes
So, here's the hot take: some "expert" is saying Salesforce (CRM) – Salesforce – is gonna be a trillion-dollar company by 2035, leaving Palantir (PLTR) in the dust. Seriously? Give me a break.
The Hype Train is Leaving the Station (Again)
Look, I get it. AI is the shiny new toy, and everyone's scrambling to glue it onto their existing crapware to seem relevant. And Salesforce, bless their heart, is no different. They're touting their "Agentforce" AI like it's the second coming. Annual recurring revenue reaching $1.2 billion last quarter, growing by more than 100% year over year? Okay, numbers are fun, but let's be real: How much of that is actual value and how much is just companies throwing money at the AI wall to see what sticks?
And this whole "Salesforce generated 10 times as much revenue as Palantir over the last 12 months" argument? Yeah, because they've been around longer and sell to everyone. Palantir is a different beast, selling to governments and dealing with…well, let's just say their work ain't exactly selling CRM software to dentists. Comparing them is like comparing apples and, uh, heavily armed drones.
Plus, this prediction hinges on Salesforce maintaining an 8% annual growth rate for the next decade? In this economy? With the way tech is evolving? That's like saying the dinosaurs would still be ruling if that asteroid had just, like, missed.
The "Durable Growth" Fantasy
Salesforce was one of the first SaaS companies, fine. But "durable growth"? That's PR speak for "we're too big to fail, so just keep throwing money at us." They've got their fingers in everything – sales, marketing, commerce, even team messaging with Slack. Speaking of Slack, how's that acquisition working out for them? Feels more like a boat anchor than a growth engine if you ask me.
And don't even get me started on operating margins. A record 21%? Gross profit margin of 70%? Sure, those are nice numbers. But what are they actually doing with that money? Are they innovating? Are they making their products better? Or are they just lining the pockets of their executives and buying up more companies to consolidate their power? I suspect, and I am willing to bet, it's the later.
The article claims Salesforce can keep expanding those bottom-line margins over the next decade. Based on what? Hope? Wishful thinking? The unwavering belief that enterprise software buyers are too stupid to realize they're being fleeced?
I mean, come on, an operating margin of 35% by 2035? That's the kind of pie-in-the-sky projection that makes me reach for the antacids.
Palantir: The Actual Disruptor?
Here's the thing that really grinds my gears. Everyone's so quick to write off Palantir. "Oh, they don't make as much money as Salesforce." "Oh, their software is too complicated for regular people." Yeah, no kidding. They're not trying to sell you a CRM system, they're building tools for governments and intelligence agencies. Tools that, you know, actually do something other than track sales leads.
Maybe, just maybe, Palantir's focus on AI and data analysis for critical applications is a better bet than Salesforce's attempt to shoehorn AI into its existing bloatware. Maybe, just maybe, the company building tools to fight terrorism and manage global supply chains is more valuable than the one helping companies send out slightly more targeted marketing emails.
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here. Maybe I'm just too cynical to see the genius of Salesforce's AI strategy. Maybe I'm just jealous that I don't own enough palantir stock. But honestly, the thought of Salesforce becoming a trillion-dollar company makes me want to short the entire market. The whole premise that Salesforce is going to leave Palantir in the dust, well, I just don't see it.
