CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) stock is trading higher on Monday even as the broader market is falling. The move comes after a bullish analyst raised his forecast for the cybersecurity firm.
Analyst Raises Forecast
Keybanc analyst Eric Heath raised the price forecast from $525 to $700, while maintaining an Overweight rating.
The analyst said that the results were solid and broadly stable quarter over quarter. Heath sees CrowdStrike well-positioned for upside this quarter, supported by demand for Mythos and the Frontier AI Readiness service.
This, along with strength in key focus areas such as continuous threat exposure management (CTEM), vulnerability management, patching, cloud security, and services, acts as a tailwind.
The analyst writes that additional tailwinds include the Flex consumption model and strong momentum, with management highlighting “unbelievable demand” following the Project Quiltworks announcement.
Recent Analyst Actions
The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price target of $509.82. Recent analyst moves include:
- Keybanc: Overweight (Raises Target to $700.00) (May 18)
- BTIG: Buy (Raises Target to $621.00) (May 14)
- Wells Fargo: Overweight (Raises Target to $525.00) (May 5)
BTIG analyst boosted the price forecast after channel checks with 10 industry contacts tied to roughly $700 million in annual CrowdStrike sales. The analyst said platform consolidation is resonating, with especially strong feedback on Next-Gen SIEM and solid commentary around Identity, Cloud Security, VM, and newer AI-driven security offerings.
BTIG’s checks also flagged mixed signals in core endpoint seat counts, but the firm argued broader platform adoption is outweighing that softness. Two partners in the survey raised growth expectations versus BTIG’s January checks, tightening the near-term bull case into the company’s fiscal first-quarter earnings.
Earnings Snapshot
In March, the company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $1.31 billion, beating analyst estimates of approximately $1.30 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.12 per share in the quarter, beating estimates of $1.10 per share.
Total revenue was up 23% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. Subscription revenue came in at $1.24 billion, also up 23% year-over-year. Annual recurring revenue increased 24% year-over-year to $5.25 billion after the company added $330.7 million of net new ARR in the quarter.
How CRWD Outperforms Technology Peers Today
CRWD is outperforming its Technology peers on Monday, up 2.83% while the sector is down 1.59%—a gap of 4.37 percentage points. That relative strength is more notable because Technology ranks 11 out of 11 sectors today, making it the weakest-performing group in the market.
Zooming out, the sector trend has still been constructive, with Technology up 12.20% over the past 30 days and up 24.33% over the past 90 days. In that context, CRWD’s ability to rise on a down day for XLK suggests traders are treating it as a leadership name within a sector that’s been strong recently but is taking a breather today.
CRWD ETF Exposure: Key Funds and Weights
- First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:CIBR): 8.29% Weight
- Amplify Cybersecurity ETF (NYSE:HACK): 5.48% Weight
- Global X Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:BUG): 5.79% Weight
Significance: Because CRWD carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.
CRWD Price Action: CrowdStrike Holdings shares were up 2.99% at $611.81 at the time of publication on Monday. The stock is trading at a new 52-week high, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo via Shutterstock
Recent Comments