Salesforce YTD Losses Exceed 30% — Seat Compression Accelerating as AI Revenue Can't Backfill Fast Enough

Benzinga·medium signal

Salesforce shares slid another 4% on April 9, bringing year-to-date losses past 30% and far underperforming the Dow Jones's ~4% decline. Investors remain skeptical that Salesforce's AI revenue (assist tokens, flex credits) can grow fast enough to offset accelerating seat compression in its core CRM business. The company is pivoting to 'assist tokens' and 'flex credits' for AI billing, but the transition is cannibalizing existing per-seat revenue faster than new pricing can replace it.