The market is offering a software giant’s immense cash flow at a steep discount, forcing investors to decide if the price reflects a temporary problem or a permanent one.

Salesforce (CRM), the application software firm whose stock trades around $171 a share, generates a free cash flow yield of 9.9%, while the median S&P 500 company sits at just 4.1%. Despite this, the market has marked the stock down over the past twelve months, with shares returning -33%. Is this a rare opportunity to buy a cash-generating machine on sale, or is the market correctly pricing in a coming slowdown?

Cash Flow Remains High, But Guidance Adjustments Add Friction

This isn’t a one-time windfall. The cash is the…