Sales Software Stocks Q1 Teardown: Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Vs The Rest

Looking back on sales software stocks’ Q1 earnings, we examine this quarter’s best and worst performers, including Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and its peers.

Companies need to be able to interact with and sell to their customers as efficiently as possible. This reality coupled with the ongoing migration of enterprises to the cloud drives demand for cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software that integrates data analytics with sales and marketing functions.

The 4 sales software stocks we track reported a mixed Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.5% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.8% below.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 16.8% since the latest earnings results.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

With its cloud-based platform named after its stock ticker symbol CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) provides customer relationship management software that helps businesses connect with their customers across sales, service, marketing, and commerce.

Salesforce reported revenues of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.8%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations but a miss of analysts’ billings estimates.

“This was an outstanding quarter for Salesforce — record revenue, record deals, and cash flow,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce.

The market seems disappointed with the results as the stock is down 6.6% since reporting and currently trades at $165.82.

Read our full report on Salesforce here, it’s free.

Best Q1: HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS)

Born from the idea that traditional interruptive marketing was becoming less effective, HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS) provides an integrated platform that helps businesses attract, engage, and manage customer relationships through marketing, sales, service, and content management tools.

HubSpot reported revenues of $881 million, up 23.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.1%. The business had a strong quarter with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

HubSpot pulled off the fastest revenue growth among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 18.9% since reporting. It currently trades at $197.58.

Is now the time to buy HubSpot? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q1: ZoomInfo (NASDAQ:GTM)

Operating a platform it calls "RevOS" - short for Revenue Operating System - ZoomInfo (NASDAQ:GTM) provides sales, marketing, and recruiting teams with business intelligence and analytics to identify prospects and deliver targeted outreach.

ZoomInfo reported revenues of $310.2 million, up 1.5% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 0.7%. Still, it was a slower quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly and billings in line with analysts’ estimates.

ZoomInfo delivered the As expected, the stock is down 51.9% since the results and currently trades at $2.91.

Read our full analysis of ZoomInfo’s results here.

Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH)

Starting as a customer service solution before expanding into a comprehensive software suite, Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH) provides AI-powered software-as-a-service solutions that help companies manage customer service, IT support, sales, and marketing functions.

Freshworks reported revenues of $228.6 million, up 16.5% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 2.3%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates.

Freshworks pulled off the biggest analyst estimate beat, highest guidance raise, and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 326 enterprise customers paying more than $5,000 annually to reach a total of 25,088. The stock is up 10.1% since reporting and currently trades at $10.12.

Read our full, actionable report on Freshworks here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 6 Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.