Salesforce, once the fast-moving disrupter of the enterprise software sector, is showing its age.
After years of outperforming the broader tech sector, Salesforce shares are up just 6% in the past six months while the Nasdaq is up 17%. That likely reflects a worry among investors that a slowing growth rate is prompting Salesforce to make bigger and riskier acquisitions. Exhibit A for that belief: Salesforce’s $15.7 billion acquisition of data visualization company Tableau last month—which cost more than the 28 other acquisitions Salesforce has made over the past five years.
