Is Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) buying Slack (NYSE:WORK)? Turns out, that is a question that many investors want answers to on Wednesday. After a Wall Street Journal report broke, rumor has it that may be true. But what would it mean for WORK stock? And what do we actually know now?
With those questions in mind, here are 16 things for investors to know:
- The rumors all started because people familiar with the deal said Salesforce is in talks to buy Slack.
- As a result of those rumors, WORK stock is up nearly 23% in the market.
- CRM stock, however, is not so lucky. Shares are down nearly 3%.
- This is likely because any such deal would value Slack at more than its $17 billion market capitalization.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, this would also be the biggest acquisition Salesforce has ever made.
- Even beyond that, it would be one of the biggest deals in the entire software industry.
- However, we do know that Salesforce has been hungry for acquisitions recently.
- It bought MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018, and then bought Tableau for $15.3 billion in 2019.
- Many on Wall Street think the deal makes sense.
- Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it would help transform Salesforce as it moves into the workplace collaboration area.
- Additionally, WORK stock has been in focus in 2020 thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- Its workplace messaging tools have helped during the rise of working from home.
- With this in mind, Slack sees its major rival as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).
- Perhaps investors feel that Salesforce buying Slack would help give its solutions an edge against Teams from Microsoft.
- Microsoft stock is also down slightly in intraday trading.
- As of right now, the deal has not been confirmed.
Is Salesforce Buying Slack? The Bottom Line.
As of right now, we really do not know if Salesforce is buying Slack. What we do know is that Wall Street is apparently excited about such a deal. It would culminate an interesting moment in tech and software, particularly as more consumers turn to work-from-home and learn-from-home solutions.
Keep an eye on the news to see how things will play out for WORK stock.
On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Sarah Smith is a Web Content Producer for InvestorPlace.com.
