Advertisement
CRM vs FFIV
Which Stock Would AI Choose? Salesforce (CRM) vs. F5 (FFIV) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- F5 (FFIV) has delivered strong year-to-date (YTD) gains of approximately 26.6%, contrasting sharply with Salesforce (CRM)'s decline of about 27.5%.
- FFIV recently beat Q2 earnings expectations with $811.7 million in revenue and raised full-year guidance, driving a 5.5% post-earnings surge.
- CRM trades at a lower price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.6 versus FFIV's 26.5, reflecting differing growth expectations amid market volatility.
- Analysts project significant upside for both, with CRM targets averaging $270 and FFIV at $337, but FFIV shows stronger recent momentum.
- Both stocks operate in cloud and security-adjacent tech spaces, but FFIV's lower beta of 0.93 indicates relatively less volatility than CRM's 1.29.
Introduction
Salesforce (CRM) and F5 (FFIV) represent key players in the technology sector, with CRM dominating customer relationship management (CRM) software and cloud services, while FFIV specializes in multi-cloud application security and delivery. This stock comparison analyzes their recent market positioning, performance trends, and growth drivers in the context of evolving cloud computing and AI demands. Traders seeking exposure to enterprise software and cybersecurity, as well as long-term investors evaluating relative performance in a volatile tech landscape, will find insights into momentum, valuation, and sentiment shifts particularly relevant for portfolio decisions.
CRM Overview and Recent Performance
Salesforce (CRM), headquartered in San Francisco, is a leading provider of cloud-based CRM platforms, including AI-powered tools like Agentforce and Data Cloud for customer engagement across industries such as financial services and healthcare. In recent market activity, the stock has faced headwinds, trading around $184 with a market capitalization of approximately $150 billion. Year-to-date performance stands at a decline of about 27.5%, influenced by broader tech sector pressures and post-earnings digestion from strong Q4 FY26 results where EPS beat estimates at $3.81. Sentiment has shown flickers of recovery amid AI enthusiasm, with peers like Datadog and HubSpot soaring on similar themes, and analysts maintaining outperform ratings with an average price target of $270, signaling potential rebound opportunities.
FFIV Overview and Recent Performance
F5 (FFIV), based in Seattle, delivers multi-cloud application security, networking, and delivery solutions, including BIG-IP systems and NGINX for enterprises securing applications across hybrid environments. The stock recently closed near $323, with a market cap of about $18.3 billion. It has posted robust YTD gains of 26.6%, bolstered by a Q2 FY26 earnings beat featuring $811.7 million in revenue (up 11% year-over-year) and EPS of $3.90, exceeding forecasts, alongside raised 2026 guidance and record cash flow from strong product revenue. Positive analyst updates, including JP Morgan's overweight reiteration with a $365 target, have fueled a 5.5% post-earnings rise, reflecting favorable sentiment toward its security and AI infrastructure positioning.
Trending AI Robots
Tickeron’s Trending AI Robots page showcases the top 25 performers curated from over 351 AI trading bots that analyze thousands of tickers across diverse strategies. These virtual agents employ machine learning for real-time signals, spanning swing trading, trend following, and multi-agent approaches on timeframes from 5 minutes to 60 minutes. Standout stats include annualized returns ranging from 23% to 163%, win rates of 51% to 88%, and profit factors up to 11.7, with top bots targeting sectors like semiconductors, data centers, and space—such as a 163% return bot on nuclear energy tickers or 97% on chipmakers. While neither CRM nor FFIV features prominently, the page highlights bots suited to current volatility. Explore these high-performing options to align with prevailing market conditions.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Salesforce (CRM) focuses on SaaS-based CRM and AI-driven customer platforms, driving growth through subscriptions and enterprise adoption, while F5 (FFIV) emphasizes hardware-software hybrids for application delivery and security, benefiting from multi-cloud migrations. Recent momentum favors FFIV with earnings-driven gains versus CRM's YTD losses, though CRM offers scale with a much larger market cap. Risk profiles differ, with FFIV's lower beta suggesting stability amid tech swings, and both exposed to cloud/AI tailwinds but FFIV gaining from cybersecurity demand. Market sentiment leans positive for FFIV post-earnings, while CRM eyes AI catalysts for reversal.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Tickeron’s AI models currently lean toward F5 (FFIV) over Salesforce (CRM), based on superior trend consistency, recent earnings momentum, YTD outperformance, and lower relative volatility. FFIV's catalysts like raised guidance position it favorably in the short term, though CRM retains long-term appeal from its AI ecosystem scale.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer. Disclaimers and Limitations
To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is CRM is a StrongBuy and FFIV is a StrongBuy.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
CRM’s FA Score shows that 1 FA rating(s) are green whileFFIV’s FA Score has 2 green FA rating(s).
- CRM’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
- FFIV’s FA Score: 2 green, 3 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
CRM’s TA Score shows that 3 TA indicator(s) are bullish while FFIV’s TA Score has 3 bullish TA indicator(s).
- CRM’s TA Score: 3 bullish, 7 bearish.
- FFIV’s TA Score: 3 bullish, 4 bearish.
Price Growth
CRM (@Packaged Software) experienced а -10.42% price change this week, while FFIV (@Computer Communications) price change was +0.71% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Packaged Software industry was -1.21%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was +2.73%, and the average quarterly price growth was -4.18%.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Computer Communications industry was +9.40%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was +10.41%, and the average quarterly price growth was +33.59%.
Reported Earning Dates
CRM is expected to report earnings on Sep 02, 2026.
FFIV is expected to report earnings on Aug 03, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Packaged Software (-1.21% weekly)Packaged software comprises multiple software programs bundled together and sold as a group. For example, Microsoft Office includes multiple applications such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. In some cases, buying a bundled product is cheaper than purchasing each item individually[s20] . Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corp. and Adobe are some major American packaged software makers.
@Computer Communications (+9.40% weekly)Computer communications industry develops technology that allows computing devices to exchange data with each other using connections/data links between nodes. Common types of computer network include Cloud (IAN), Internet, Wide (WAN, Local (LAN)/Wireless(WLAN) etc. The industry is an ever-more important part of technology, and is set to become even bigger as the Internet of Things (IoT) rapidly forays into the various aspects of our lives. Cisco Systems, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Inc. and Arista Networks, Inc., Fortinet, Inc. are some of the major computer communications companies.
| CRM | FFIV | CRM / FFIV | |
| Capitalization | 136B | 22.4B | 607% |
| EBITDA | 13.7B | 905M | 1,514% |
| Gain YTD | -37.060 | 55.199 | -67% |
| P/E Ratio | 19.22 | 32.53 | 59% |
| Revenue | 42.8B | 3.23B | 1,327% |
| Total Cash | 1.8B | 1.44B | 125% |
| Total Debt | 41.9B | 260M | 16,115% |
CRM | FFIV | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 58 | 93 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 15 Undervalued | 55 Fair valued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 100 | 27 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 52 | 46 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 64 | 8 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 94 | 35 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
CRM's Valuation (15) in the Packaged Software industry is somewhat better than the same rating for FFIV (55) in the Computer Communications industry. This means that CRM’s stock grew somewhat faster than FFIV’s over the last 12 months.
FFIV's Profit vs Risk Rating (27) in the Computer Communications industry is significantly better than the same rating for CRM (100) in the Packaged Software industry. This means that FFIV’s stock grew significantly faster than CRM’s over the last 12 months.
FFIV's SMR Rating (46) in the Computer Communications industry is in the same range as CRM (52) in the Packaged Software industry. This means that FFIV’s stock grew similarly to CRM’s over the last 12 months.
FFIV's Price Growth Rating (8) in the Computer Communications industry is somewhat better than the same rating for CRM (64) in the Packaged Software industry. This means that FFIV’s stock grew somewhat faster than CRM’s over the last 12 months.
FFIV's P/E Growth Rating (35) in the Computer Communications industry is somewhat better than the same rating for CRM (94) in the Packaged Software industry. This means that FFIV’s stock grew somewhat faster than CRM’s over the last 12 months.
| CRM | FFIV | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 41% | 4 days ago 38% |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 73% | 4 days ago 42% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 60% | 4 days ago 70% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 57% | 4 days ago 41% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 65% | 4 days ago 67% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 69% | 4 days ago 69% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 15 days ago 69% | 4 days ago 65% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 64% | 6 days ago 52% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 60% | N/A |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 83% | 4 days ago 70% |
Advertisement
CRM and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, CRM has been closely correlated with HUBS. These tickers have moved in lockstep 75% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if CRM jumps, then HUBS could also see price increases.
| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To CRM | 1D Price Change % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM | 100% | -0.34% | ||
| HUBS - CRM | 75% Closely correlated | +0.83% | ||
| WDAY - CRM | 71% Closely correlated | +0.21% | ||
| TEAM - CRM | 71% Closely correlated | -0.76% | ||
| ADBE - CRM | 70% Closely correlated | -6.76% | ||
| DT - CRM | 68% Closely correlated | +0.94% | ||
More | ||||
FFIV and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, FFIV has been loosely correlated with SHOP. These tickers have moved in lockstep 58% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is some statistical probability that if FFIV jumps, then SHOP could also see price increases.
| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To FFIV | 1D Price Change % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FFIV | 100% | +0.59% | ||
| SHOP - FFIV | 58% Loosely correlated | -2.02% | ||
| ADSK - FFIV | 56% Loosely correlated | -3.47% | ||
| CDNS - FFIV | 56% Loosely correlated | +0.32% | ||
| CVLT - FFIV | 54% Loosely correlated | +0.73% | ||
| CRM - FFIV | 53% Loosely correlated | -0.34% | ||
More | ||||