Salesforce vs. Adobe: Which Cloud-Software Stock Is the Stronger Buy?

Salesforce, Inc. CRM and Adobe Inc. ADBE are two of the biggest names in the cloud software space. Both help businesses boost productivity, improve customer engagement and advance digital transformation. While Adobe dominates the creative software market, Salesforce leads in customer relationship management solutions.As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes enterprise software, both companies are betting big on AI to power the next phase of growth. But which stock offers the stronger investment case right now? Let’s break it down.The Case for Salesforce StockSalesforce has long held the top position in the customer relationship management market, according to Gartner. The company’s vision now goes beyond customer management, and it is building a broader ecosystem focused on AI, data and collaboration. Recent acquisitions like Waii, Bluebirds, Informatica and Slack show Salesforce’s push to evolve into a more complete enterprise platform.AI is now central to Salesforce’s growth story. Since the 2023 rollout of Einstein GPT, Salesforce has been embedding generative AI across its offerings to help companies automate processes, improve decision-making and strengthen customer relationships.Its latest innovation, Agentforce, is gaining momentum. Combined with Data Cloud, these AI-driven offerings brought in $1.2 billion in recurring revenues in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, up 120% year over year. More than 40% of Agentforce deals came from existing clients, showing Salesforce’s success in cross-selling AI features to its user base.Financially, Salesforce continues to deliver steady performance. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, revenues and non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) rose 9.8% and 13.7% year over year, respectively. The top and bottom lines also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimates by 1.02% and 5.05%, respectively.Salesforce Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Salesforce Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Salesforce Inc. QuoteTotal remaining performance obligation (RPO) was $59.9 billion at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2026, up 10% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 RPO stands at $59.05 billion, suggesting expectations for measured growth. The non-GAAP operating margin was 34.3% in the second quarter, while the guidance of 34.1% for fiscal 2026 indicates profitability is likely to hold steady.These results suggest Salesforce is transitioning from a growth-heavy model to a more efficient, profitable enterprise solution provider while keeping innovation at its core.The Case for Adobe StockAdobe remains the undisputed leader in creative software, serving millions of professionals worldwide. Its AI strategy revolves around Firefly, a generative AI model trained only on licensed and public content. This approach addresses critical enterprise concerns around copyright and legal liability that plague competitors using web-scraped training data.In September 2025, Adobe launched Acrobat Studio, combining Acrobat, Adobe Express and AI tools into one productivity hub. Features like PDF Spaces and AI-assisted creation tools show Adobe’s focus on practical, everyday use cases. Additionally, the Adobe Experience Platform Agent Orchestrator marks a key step in agentic AI, allowing automated decision-making with human oversight. This positions Adobe at the forefront of enterprise AI agent deployment, addressing the $18.5 billion addressable market for marketing automation and customer experience platforms.Adobe’s AI partnerships throughout 2025 reflect strong enterprise traction. Its deal with the Premier League brings Firefly AI to 1.8 billion global fans, while collaborations with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure expand its cloud presence. The company also launched LLM Optimizer earlier this year, a tool to improve brand visibility in AI-driven search environments.Financially, Adobe remains solid. In the third quarter of fiscal 2025, revenues rose 10.7%, and non-GAAP EPS climbed 14.2%, both ahead of expectations. However, the bigger concern is growth sustainability. Rising competition from Canva, Figma and AI-first design startups threatens Adobe’s pricing power and dominance.Additionally, Adobe is struggling to monetize its AI solutions effectively, which could impact its overall growth prospects. Despite significant investment and integration of AI features across its product suite, the company’s new AI book of business contributed around $250 million in revenues during the third quarter, only about 4% of total revenues. That’s far behind Salesforce and Microsoft in AI monetization, suggesting Adobe’s transition to an AI-driven growth model is still early-stage.Adobe Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Adobe Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Adobe Inc. QuoteSalesforce vs. Adobe: Growth OutlookBoth companies are riding on the AI wave, but near-term growth looks slightly stronger for Adobe. The consensus estimates for fiscal 2025 point to 10% revenue and 12.8% EPS growth for Adobe. Estimates for Salesforce’s fiscal 2026 call for 8.8% revenue and 11.3% EPS growth.However, the long-term picture tilts in Salesforce’s favor. Analysts expect Salesforce’s earnings to witness a CAGR of 13.9% over the next five years compared with 13.1% for Adobe. Salesforce’s consistent execution, product innovation and expanding enterprise footprint give it a stronger long-term growth runway.CRM vs. ADBE: Price Performance and ValuationOver the past year, both stocks have declined, but Salesforce has held up better. CRM is down 7.4%, while ADBE has dropped 26.3%, a wide performance gap reflecting investor confidence in Salesforce’s execution and resilience.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchValuation tells a nuanced story. Salesforce trades at 21.43 times forward 12-month earnings, while Adobe looks cheaper at 15.36 times. But the premium for Salesforce seems justified given its accelerating AI traction, improving profitability and more predictable earnings outlook.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchConclusion: CRM Is the Better Investment Right NowWhile both companies are strong players in the cloud software space, Salesforce has a clearer path to monetizing AI, stronger customer stickiness through its platform ecosystem, and better margin stability. Adobe continues to innovate, but competitive threats and slow AI monetization make its near-term prospects less compelling.For investors seeking a blend of steady growth, expanding AI-driven opportunities and resilient financial performance, Salesforce stands out as the stronger investment option right now.Salesforce carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), making it a clear winner over Adobe, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. Little-known AI firms tackling the world's biggest problems may be more lucrative in the coming months and years.See "2nd Wave" AI stocks now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Salesforce Inc. (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report Adobe Inc. (ADBE): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks