Salesforce cites heavy Claude spending for lower full-year margin outlook
Salesforce said its full-year operating-margin guidance fell to 20.1% because of high costs for Anthropic’s Claude tokens.
During a recent investor briefing, Salesforce attributed its reduced full-year operating-margin guidance of 20.1% to the expense of using Anthropic’s Claude model. Deputy CFO Mike Spencer said the company launched Claude in its research cycle about six months ago, and the token spend has pressured the margin outlook despite a 20.5% operating margin reported for the second quarter. To curb costs, Salesforce is shifting to a "refinement mode," selecting older or second-generation models for most tasks while reserving the newest models for high-impact projects such as software development.
The firm now runs a mix of AI providers—including OpenAI, Cursor, Claude and X’s Grok—to optimize pricing across different use cases. Spencer highlighted that this approach mirrors what many customers are doing to avoid the so-called "token-maxxing" trap. Earlier in the year, CEO Marc Benioff announced an expected $300 million spend on Anthropic for 2026. The company’s strategy reflects a broader industry trend of balancing AI capability with cost efficiency.
Why it matters
The story shows how AI expenses can directly affect a major tech company's profitability and strategic choices.
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