Shares of customer relationship management software giant Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) slid 2.4% through 11 a.m. ET Friday, and there's just one reason for this: Wolfe Research.

A confirmed Salesforce bull for the past 10 years, Wolfe Research this morning announced it has downgraded Salesforce stock from outperform to market perform for the first time in a decade. As StreetInsider explains today, "following a Covid pull-forward" in sales, Wolfe thinks that Salesforce's business is "materially decelerating" and the company is entering a "new and difficult chapter" in its corporate life.  

New bookings this year are down 53%, says Wolfe, and revenue growth in 2023 could be in the single digits. On top of all that, management added to its own problems through multiple acquisitions of unprofitable companies such as Slack and Tableau, made at multibillion-dollar valuations. As these acquisition costs depreciate over time, they're weighing on Salesforce's profits -- currently depressed to just $306 million earned so far this year, after three straight years of Salesforce earning profits well north of $2 billion per year.

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Source Fool.com