Jefferies says buy Salesforce shares before earnings due to 'healthy' deal activity

Jefferies is getting more optimistic on Salesforce shares due to its strong deal pipeline.

The firm reiterated its buy rating for Salesforce stock, predicting the cloud computing software company will report sales growth above expectations this fiscal year.

Salesforce will report its fiscal second-quarter results on Aug. 29.

"We believe that CRM will meet or exceed consensus F2Q billings growth," analyst John DiFucci said in a note to clients Wednesday. "Our Enterprise checks reflect strong results, particularly in Europe and across verticals," and a healthy pipeline for the second half of the year, he said.