Morgan Stanley is a big believer in the merger between Salesforce and MuleSoft.
The firm raised its price target to $178 from $153, a 16 percent increase, for Salesforce shares, predicting a big rise in its sales during the coming years from the deal.
In March Salesforce announced an agreement to buy MuleSoft for about $6.5 billion. MuleSoft's products enable companies to stitch together disparate software applications, data and devices. The deal closed in May.
"Unlocking data trapped in legacy systems via MuleSoft brings SFDC [Salesforce.com] to the forefront of driving digital transformation for its customers," analyst Keith Weiss said in a note to clients Tuesday. "Consensus expectations likely underestimate this growth potential and SFDC's improved M&A track record, driving our estimates and price target higher."
Weiss reiterated his overweight rating for Salesforce shares.
The analyst predicts MuleSoft will add more than $1 billion in sales to the company by 2021 versus an estimated $449 million in sales this year.
"The acquisition of MuleSoft directly addresses the challenge of connecting and utilizing data trapped in legacy systems more efficiently into Salesforce.com's platform, extending the overall value proposition into a broader hybrid (public and private) cloud environment required for most larger enterprises," he said.
Salesforce shares rose 0.6 percent Tuesday after the report. Its stock is up 41 percent this year through Monday versus the S&P 500's 6 percent gain.
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