Salesforce agrees to buy Braze for $5.66 billion; Braze shares jump
Key Facts
Salesforce announced an agreement on October 20, 2026, to acquire Braze at an enterprise value of about $5.66 billion, adding its capabilities in personalized customer engagement and AI-powered marketing. The company said in a statement that holders of Braze Class A common stock would receive $47.50 per share in cash upon completion. The consideration represents a premium of about 58.1% to the target company's last closing share price before the agreement was announced, according to Reuters. Braze shares jumped more than 50% on the day of the announcement, according to the agency's report dated the same day. Under the agreement, Salesforce is buying a platform that helps marketers orchestrate customer experiences across multiple channels, including apps, websites and messaging services.
On the financial front, Salesforce expects the acquisition to contribute to its business growth while weighing on near-term profitability, according to its investor presentation attached to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company summed up this trade-off as "a boost to growth offset by near-term pressure on profitability." At the same time, it said in the statement announcing the agreement that it did not expect the deal to change its fiscal 2027 guidance. It added that there was "no update to long-term targets at this time," maintaining its stated position on those targets at the time of the announcement. The company thus combined expectations of a future growth contribution from Braze with unchanged current guidance, while acknowledging the near-term cost to profitability.
Braze serves about 2,770 customers at the time of the deal announcement, including Canva, Instacart and Venmo, according to Salesforce's statement about the target company. Its platform enables marketers to orchestrate personalized customer experiences across mobile apps and websites, as well as email, text messages and WhatsApp. Salesforce says Braze's AI decision-making capabilities help marketers optimize the content and offers they present to customers. Those capabilities also extend to optimizing communication channels and the timing of interactions, alongside selecting content and offers, according to the company's description. Braze's business thus combines the orchestration of communications across those channels with the use of AI to optimize elements of the marketing experience companies deliver to their customers.
In its latest quarterly results included in its earnings release, Braze reported total revenue of $227.2 million for the second quarter of its fiscal 2027. The period ended on July 31, 2026, compared with revenue of $180.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. The company attributed revenue growth primarily to new customers, increased sales to existing customers and subscription renewals. The growth drivers Braze identified combined an expanding customer base, increased business with existing customers and continued subscriptions. For the full year, the company forecast revenue of between $910.0 million and $913.0 million for fiscal 2027, which ends on January 31, 2027.
The Braze agreement follows Salesforce's agreements to buy other platforms that use AI, including Loops and Listen Labs, according to the company's announcements of those transactions. Salesforce had announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Loops, an AI-powered analytics platform for monitoring business performance. Loops' functions include explaining changes in business metrics, according to Salesforce's description when it announced that agreement. The Braze deal was also preceded by the company's agreement to buy Listen Labs, which works in customer research and human simulation using AI. The agreements thus cover activities ranging from performance monitoring and interpreting metrics to customer research and the orchestration of marketing interactions provided by Braze.
Looking ahead, Braze forecast revenue of between $229.0 million and $230.0 million in its results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027, ending on October 31, 2026. Salesforce expects to complete the acquisition during its fiscal 2028, according to the statement announcing the agreement. Completion remains subject to the required regulatory approvals and approval of the deal by Braze shareholders, according to the statement and merger agreement. The agreement does not require a vote or approval by Salesforce shareholders, according to the contract filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The contract sets the initial deadline for completion as the first anniversary of the agreement's date, with extensions possible under its terms.