CRWD

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW delivered strong quarterly results and a solid outlook, reinforcing its competitive edge against peers, including CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. CRWD and Fortinet, Inc. FTNT. So, let’s take a closer look at the results and the key factors that make PANW stock a buy now. Palo Alto Networks reported $9.1 billion in Next-Generation Security ARR (NGS ARR) in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, up 63% year over year, as mentioned in the company’s Sept. 1 press release. Management also revealed that almost $1 billion in net new NGS ARR was added in the fiscal fourth quarter alone. This means the company is not only expanding its existing customer base but also seeing rapid adoption of Palo Alto Networks’ newer security platforms. The strong ARR growth is particularly noteworthy, as it highlights Palo Alto Networks’ potential for sustained revenue generation in the future. Meanwhile, the company’s remaining performance obligations increased by 34% to $21.2 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, providing the company with substantial forward revenue visibility. Looking ahead, Palo Alto Networks expects NGS ARR of $9.54 billion to $9.56 billion in the fiscal first quarter of 2027, up around 63% year over year. For the fiscal year 2027, the company projects NGS ARR of $11.075 billion to $11.175 billion, representing 22-23% year-over-year growth. This robust guidance suggests that Palo Alto Networks’ growth story extends beyond a strong quarter, with management expecting substantial growth in the artificial intelligence (AI)/cybersecurity opportunity in the years ahead. Given Palo Alto Networks’ scale, its remarkable NGS ARR growth and strong FY2027 support a bullish case for PANW stock, making it a compelling buy now. Importantly, Palo Alto Networks isn’t growing at the expense of profitability. The company’s non-GAAP operating income reached $1 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, up roughly 30% year over year, while adjusted free cash flow totaled a healthy $1.3 billion. Together, strong growth, recurring revenue, improving profitability, and robust cash generation strengthened Palo Alto Networks’ long-term investment case. Moreover, from a valuation perspective, Palo Alto Networks appears attractive, with its forward price-to-earnings ratio of 88 below the Security industry’s average of 147.47. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Palo Alto Networks currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) : Free Stock Analysis Report Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report CrowdStrike (CRWD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the market's close tomorrow, Sept. 3. While several cybersecurity stocks are near all-time highs, Zscaler has been out of favor recently, as management gave cautious guidance in its previous earnings report. However, with two of the largest cybersecurity companies, CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), recently reporting results that show AI is boosting cybersecurity demand, could Zscaler beat the modest expectations investors have for its business? Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » Image source: The Motley Fool. As we've seen numerous times this earnings season, beating top- and bottom-line expectations isn't always enough. With that in mind, here are some of the things I'll be watching tomorrow when the company reports. First of all, Zscaler doesn't exactly have a high bar to clear. Management's previous guidance calls for roughly 22% year-over-year revenue growth in the fiscal fourth quarter, and the company has a strong recent history of outperforming its own expectations. In the fiscal third quarter, Zscaler reported 25% growth in both revenue and ARR, as well as its highest-ever adjusted operating margin. But while I'll be watching this, it isn't my main focus. In the company's fiscal third-quarter report, the problem wasn't Zscaler's top and bottom line. That isn't why the stock fell sharply after the report. It was the guidance. The company's initial fiscal 2027 outlook called for annual recurring revenue growth to slow to just 16%-17%. With CrowdStrike just reporting its highest net new ARR growth rate ever, a significant guidance raise from Zscaler could be a major catalyst for the stock. After all, a big reason CrowdStrike is trading near all-time highs is that management issued fiscal 2027 guidance calling for net new ARR growth of 630 basis points (6.3 percentage points) above the previous level. I'll also be watching the RPO (remaining performance obligation), which essentially tells us Zscaler's revenue backlog. This grew 30% in the fiscal third quarter to $6.5 billion, and if the company continues to book revenue faster than its top-line reflects, it could indicate healthy growth acceleration in the near future. As we've seen with several other AI-focused businesses in this earnings season, simply beating expectations isn't enough. As I'm writing this, Palo Alto's stock is falling despite topping estimates. The biggest factor is what management says about the future. If the company confirms a deceleration in growth, even a strong top-line beat might not matter. On the other hand, strong guidance would likely make investors far more confident heading into the new fiscal year. The acceleration of agentic AI and the threats that come with it have forced enterprises to bump up spending on cyber defenses. Zscaler's two largest peers just issued earnings reports that clearly show this. The company is well-positioned, with its zero-trust architecture, to lead the way in securing agentic workflows. If the numbers it reports tomorrow, along with its forward guidance and management commentary, indicate that the company is gaining traction in the agentic AI cybersecurity push, the stock could react very positively. Before you buy stock in Zscaler, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Zscaler wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $435,803!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,334,577!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 966% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of September 2, 2026. Matt Frankel, CFP® has positions in Zscaler. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike and Zscaler. The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Zscaler's Next Earnings Report on September 3 Could Send the Stock Soaring. Here's Why. was originally published by The Motley Fool

Zscaler, Inc. ZS is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Sept. 3, after market close. For the fiscal fourth quarter, Zscaler projects total revenues between $875 million and $878 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $877.1 million, suggesting growth of approximately 22% from the year-ago quarter. Zscaler anticipates non-GAAP earnings per share between $1.08 and $1.09. The consensus mark for non-GAAP earnings has remained unchanged at $1.09 over the past 60 days, which indicates a 22.5% increase from the year-ago quarter’s level. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Zscaler’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 11.42%. Zscaler, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Zscaler, Inc. Quote Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Zscaler this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. ZS currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zscaler’s fourth-quarter results are expected to benefit from its security and networking solutions, given the rising demand for AI security. Momentum in its Zero Trust Everywhere platform is likely to have driven larger platform deals and customer consolidation in the to-be-reported quarter. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, the number of Zero Trust Everywhere customers surpassed 700, up from 550 in the previous quarter and 210 in the year-ago quarter. Strong momentum with Global 2000 and Fortune 500 customers and $1 million ARR customers, driven by the ongoing digital transformation across organizations and the growing popularity of hybrid work, is likely to have been a key catalyst in the to-be-reported quarter. Zscaler’s growing enterprise penetration may also have been a tailwind in the fourth quarter. Another important growth driver in the to-be-reported quarter may have been its Z-Flex program, which is helping the company secure larger multi-year contracts. Introduced in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, the program generated more than $480 million in total contract value bookings in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, marking a strong 60% sequential increase. Z-Flex allows customers to adopt multiple products gradually under a predictable pricing structure, making long-term platform adoption easier. This strategy not only increases customer stickiness but also improves revenue visibility. Year to date, Zscaler shares have plunged 18.1%, underperforming the Zacks Security industry’s gain of 83.3%. Compared to its peers, ZS stock has also underperformed other cybersecurity solution providers, including Fortinet, Inc. FTNT, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. CRWD. Year to date, shares of Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike have soared 109.1%, 101.7% and 86.4%, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Now, let’s look at the value Salesforce offers investors at the current levels. Zscaler stock is trading at a discount with a forward 12-month P/S of 7.54X compared with the industry’s 18.51X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research ZS stock also trades at a discount relative to Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike. At present, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike have P/S multiples of 13.94, 21.75 and 32.97, respectively. Zscaler is benefiting from rising demand for zero trust security as enterprises expand cloud, hybrid work and AI initiatives. Nonetheless, it faces multiple challenges. The major problem is its slowing growth. The company once routinely delivered revenue growth above 40%. This has now fallen to the mid-20% range, and management expects fiscal 2027 revenue growth of only about 16%, with ARR growth of roughly 17%. At the same time, Zscaler is preparing for higher infrastructure spending. AI workloads require more computing, storage, networking and memory capacity, pushing capital expenditures higher. Management expects fiscal 2026 capital expenditures to reach the high-single-digit percentage of revenues compared with its earlier mid-single-digit expectation. Spending could increase by another 200 basis points in fiscal 2027. Higher investment can be justified when growth is accelerating. However, when revenue growth is expected to slow, rising costs become a bigger concern. Zscaler’s slowing revenue growth remains a major concern despite the demand for zero trust security continuing to grow as enterprises expand cloud, hybrid work and AI initiatives. Rising capital spending requirements due to higher prices for memory, processors, storage and networking equipment are further adding risks to the company’s growth prospects. Given these challenges, it is prudent to exit Zscaler stock for now. Investors can revisit ZS if the company’s fourth-quarter results signal growth stabilization. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Zscaler, Inc. (ZS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) : Free Stock Analysis Report CrowdStrike (CRWD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) just reported earnings, and its CEO, George Kurtz, had some strong words to describe it. The CEO said it was the best quarter in the company's history and that the results have now set a new bar. The market seems to agree, as the stock jumped more than 20% in a single trading session after the report. Revenue rose 26% to $1.47 billion, beating expectations, and the company raised its guidance for the rest of the year. The standout figure was net new annual recurring revenue, the fresh subscription business added in the quarter. It hit a record $333 million, up 51% from a year ago. Management added to investors' excitement by lifting its full-year forecast for net new ARR growth to 34%. Kurtz said securing AI is now the largest market opportunity in the company's history. Investors weren’t the only ones that liked what they saw. Well over a dozen analyst firms, including Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Well Fargo all raised their price targets. Sandisk Stock Could Nearly Double to $3,000, According to Wall Street Warren Buffett’s Granddaughter Says He Disowned Her and Twin Sister in a Letter —‘I Have Not Emotionally or Legally Adopted You as a Grandchild…’ How to Play the Post-Earnings Selloff in Marvell Technology Stock Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! When you look deeper at the annual recurring revenue jump that impressed everyone, the performance becomes even more impressive. That 51% jump in new business was the sixth quarter in a row that CrowdStrike’s growth accelerated. For a company already pulling in nearly $6 billion in recurring revenue, that is exceptional. Businesses this size almost always slow down as they get bigger. But CrowdStrike keeps booming, and the driver is AI itself. As companies roll out AI agents, each one opens new ways for hackers to get in. CrowdStrike says a single agent can create several fresh points of attack rather than one. So the more AI a company adopts, the more security it suddenly needs. Its newest product built for this, called AIDR, nearly tripled in a single quarter. The same AI wave that threatens some software companies is turning into a growth engine for CrowdStrike. That is what makes the company look even stronger than its numbers. CrowdStrike has tied its own growth to how fast the world adopts AI, and that adoption is only speeding up. Crowdstrike is a technology company that helps businesses protect their computers, cloud systems, identities, data, and applications from cyber threats. The company offers a wide range of security services, including endpoint protection, cloud security, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, and security monitoring. It also provides AI-powered tools that automate security workflows and help organizations secure their AI applications and workloads. Crowdstrike’s main product is the Falcon platform, a cloud-based security system that customers access through subscriptions. The company also works with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation to help businesses secure AI systems, models, and the infrastructure that supports them. Founded in 2011, the company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Over the last 12 months, Crowdstrike stock has surged 97.7%, significantly outperforming the iShares Cybersecurity and Tech ETF’s (IHAK) 25.5% gain during the same period. The rise is primarily driven by accelerating AI-driven cybersecurity demand, record recurring revenue, and customer adoption of the Falcon platform. Moreover, the company has consistently delivered strong earnings, with ARR reaching $5.84 billion in its latest quarter, up 25% year-over-year (YOY). These factors have strengthened investor confidence in the company’s long-term growth prospects. CrowdStrike’s stock is priced for perfection. The forward GAAP price-to-earnings ratio of 1,805.91 times looks scary on paper. But that figure is distorted by heavy stock-based compensation that squeezes GAAP earnings down to almost nothing. The forward price-to-sales ratio shows a more accurate picture, and it is expensive. The PS multiple of 38.86 times sits 80.74%% above its 5-year average of 21.50 times. The company is growing fast, but that is still a steep premium, and it shows how much optimism is already priced in. The EPS outlook and balance sheet both help explain it. Analysts expect growth of 41% in 2027, 26% in 2028, 25% in 2029, and 31% in 2030. That is strong, durable growth, especially for a company already worth nearly $200 billion. Coming to the balance sheet, CrowdStrike holds $5.01 billion in cash against just $821 million in debt. This leaves it firmly net cash positive with room to keep investing. Overall, a stock priced for perfection needs the business to execute about as well as it can, and that is exactly what CrowdStrike seems to be doing for now. Following the company’s earnings, analysts have been raising their price targets on CRWD stock. Rosenblatt analyst Catharine Trebnick raised the firm’s price target from $206 to $250 and maintained a "Buy" rating. Crowdstrike beat every guided metric and also raised the outlook, as a result of which the firm raised its price target. Similarly, Raymond James analyst Adam Tindle raised the firm’s price target from $188 to $240 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. The firm noted that the company’s net new annual recurring revenue increased 51% YOY to about $333 million in the second quarter, showing that CRWD is maintaining its ARR growth above 25%. Tindle also highlighted that demand for AI Detection and Response nearly tripled from the previous quarter. Based on 50 Wall Street analysts with coverage, CRWD stock carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. The mean price target of $211.35 sits below the current share price, while the high price target of $256 implies a 17.2% upside from current levels. Although the potential upside appears modest following the stock’s recent rally, the overall analyst consensus remains positive, with 33 Wall Street analysts having a “Strong Buy” rating. This reflects continued confidence in the company’s long-term growth prospects. On the date of publication, Jabran Kundi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com

While digging through CrowdStrike’s earnings report, I came across an interesting comment from CEO George Kurtz that caught my attention. I don’t see it as standard earnings language. Why? It’s a statement about category ownership. A claim that every enterprise deploying AI now understands it needs to secure that AI, and that CrowdStrike is the company they’re calling first. The numbers from FQ2 themselves suggest that claim isn’t just marketing. CrowdStrike just delivered what Kurtz called “the best quarter in CrowdStrike’s history.” Morgan Stanley followed up by raising its price target to $238 from $227, maintaining its Overweight rating, in a note shared with me at TheStreet. Morgan Stanley calls CrowdStrike a “clear secular winner.” And looking at the latest data, that bullish case may be more compelling than it has been in years. Also Read: CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Latest News and Stories The headline number that moved Morgan Stanley’s conviction wasn’t the normal revenue or guidance or anything. It was net new annual recurring revenue (ARR). CrowdStrike delivered record Q2 net new ARR of $333 million, up 51% year-over-year (YoY) — beating Street expectations by 17% and coming in above even the more aggressive buy-side estimate of roughly $310 million, according to the note. Total ARR reached $5.84 billion, up 25.4% YoY. I’ll quote it directly from the note: the quarter “extinguished concerns around how long it would take for the increased threat environment to turn to customer traction.” More CrowdStrike Holdings: CrowdStrike Holdings Q2 2027 Earnings: Recap of $CRWD Earnings Call, Forecast CrowdStrike needs more than a beat to keep investors happy 5 Top Stock Gainers for Tuesday: Best Buy, Palo Alto Networks Investors had worried that the intensifying cybersecurity threat landscape was showing up in theory, but not yet translating into stronger bookings. FQ2 put that concern to rest. Revenue grew 26% YoY to $1.47 billion, approximately 2% above consensus. Operating margin came in at 25.3%, beating Street by roughly 110 basis points. Free cash flow margin hit 25.7%, above management’s own 24.5% expectation, according to the note. CrowdStrike Management responded by raising FY27 net new ARR growth guidance by 630 basis points to 34% YoY at the midpoint, lifting the FY27 ARR midpoint to approximately $6.607 billion, according to CrowdStrike’s statement and the note. I’ve been lowkey watching CrowdStrike’s AI Detection and Response product since it launched back in Dec. 2025, and the Q2 update reframed my thinking about how big this opportunity actually is. AIDR ARR nearly tripled Quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) in FQ2, according to the Morgan Stanley note. Related: CrowdStrike, AWS race to fix enterprise AI security blind spot That’s a product finding product-market fit in real time. AIDR monitors, detects, and investigates threats targeting or originating from AI systems at runtime. As every enterprise deploys AI, it creates a new attack surface that AIDR is specifically built to protect. Digging deeper, I find that Morgan Stanley made a statement in the note that I find genuinely striking. They described AIDR as having “the potential to be bigger than EDR eventually.” Endpoint Detection and Response built CrowdStrike into a $200-plus stock. If AIDR scales to that level, the current valuation looks different. The broader platform metrics confirm that customers aren’t just buying one solution. Module adoption grew to 51% of subscription customers using six or more modules, 35% using seven or more, and 26% using eight or more, according to  CrowdStrike’s statement. Combined ARR for Next-Gen SIEM, Cloud, and Identity exceeded $2.18 billion, up more than 39% YoY, according to the note. Falcon Flex ARR surpassed $2.29 billion, growing 101% YoY. Morgan Stanley’s revised $238 price target is based on a 60x multiple of its CY30 free cash flow estimate of $5.44 billion per share, discounted back at a 12% weighted average cost of capital, according to the note. That valuation translates to roughly 34 times CY27 sales — an exceptionally rich premium to high-growth software and security peers, a point the firm explicitly acknowledges. Related: Goldman Sachs aggressively resets CrowdStrike stock price target I think the AIDR and Falcon Flex dynamics are the two strongest pillars of the bull case right now. AIDR because it represents a genuinely new and expanding market that didn’t exist two years ago. Falcon Flex because ARR uplift on re-Flex customers is running approximately 25%, according to the note — meaning existing customers who convert to the flexible consumption model are spending more, not less. The risk I’d watch most closely is the competitive dynamic. CrowdStrike operates at premium pricing in a market where lower-cost alternatives are improving. As long as AIDR and platformization continue to drive module depth, pricing power holds. If either stalls, the multiple compresses fast. Related: Morgan Stanley reveals Cisco’s quiet edge over rivals CRWD shares were trading at $217.88, up 85.90% year-to-date and 97.16% over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance data as of Aug. 28, 2026. Kurtz said Q2 was the best quarter in company history. Morgan Stanley raised its target. CrowdStrike heads into its Fal.Con 2026 cybersecurity conference next week from Aug. 31 to Sep. 3, 2026 with a record Q3 pipeline and a threat environment that, by all accounts, is getting more complex. Not less. Related: Morgan Stanley sees big change coming for Alphabet stock This story was originally published by TheStreet on Aug 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the Investing section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) has become an early winner in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, and that's delivered a big win to early investors in this cybersecurity giant. The company's innovative platform, Falcon, incorporates AI to identify threats and tackle attacks before they happen. This has translated into explosive revenue growth quarter after quarter, and the company continued marching along this path in the recent period. In fact, chief George Kurtz called it the "very best quarter in company history." Among other achievements, CrowdStrike delivered record new annual recurring revenue (ARR) and free cash flow. And, importantly, the growth of AI is offering the company a new, significant revenue opportunity. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » All of that is positive, but it's also important to keep in mind the stock's explosive performance, something that could mean some of this great news is already priced in. The stock has jumped about 100% over the past year. Is it too late to buy this winning AI stock? Let's find out. Image source: Getty Images. We'll start by taking a look at CrowdStrike's path so far. As mentioned, the company has become a successful user of AI. CrowdStrike's Falcon platform is a lightweight sensor -- meaning it operates in the background and doesn't slow down a computer system's operations -- that looks out for potential danger. The system operates in the cloud and leverages an enterprise's data to detect potential threats and take action. Falcon offers customers more than 30 modules focused on a range of security specialty areas, from data protection to blocking viruses and securing multi-cloud environments. And the Falcon Flex program allows customers flexibility to manage their changing security needs -- they can shift from one module to another, for example. All of this has propelled revenue higher. The recent quarter confirmed the company's successes, as new ARR reached a record of $333 million, free cash flow hit a record of $377 million, and Falcon Flex accounts attained an ending ARR of more than $2.2 billion. As mentioned, the company said that this quarter was the best ever -- and expressed significant optimism about what's ahead. Now, let's consider the newish element that's driving this growth. As Kurtz said during the earnings call, today's AI agent "is both a friend and foe." The AI agent, used increasingly by companies and individuals, carries out various tasks that previously were carried out by humans. This is the actual application of AI to real-world situations, and it's seen as the next big area of AI growth. Though these agents can be extremely helpful, they also could lead to new attacks and threats. And this opens up a whole new area of opportunity for CrowdStrike. The company cites the Mythos moment earlier this year -- when Anthropic's Mythos model showed how AI could exploit software vulnerabilities -- as being a key turning point. "Ever since Mythos, we have seen growth in our business, not measured by meetings or calls, but measured by ARR, and we don't see the threat landscape subsiding," Kurtz said. The company said its customers' use of Anthropic's Claude, as well as AI agents in general, is growing in the triple digits -- and this has prompted them to focus more and more on cybersecurity. All of this suggests that CrowdStrike may be in the early days of another big wave of growth. This is positive, but the stock has soared in recent times, and as a result, it trades for 181x forward earnings estimates -- a level that isn't cheap. So is it too late to buy this standout cybersecurity player? The answer depends on your investment style. If you're a value investor, you'll find opportunities better suited to your needs elsewhere. If you're a growth investor, though, you might choose to add a few shares of CrowdStrike to your portfolio even at today's premium price. The recent positive earnings results may be priced in, but the stock still has room to run over the long term. As AI becomes a greater part of daily life, CrowdStrike could see revenue growth explode higher over the long run -- and that could deliver a big win to investors who today choose to buy and hold. Before you buy stock in CrowdStrike, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and CrowdStrike wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $430,571!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,399,268!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 986% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 29, 2026. Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. After CrowdStrike's "Best Quarter in Company History" and Explosive Stock Market Gains, Is It Too Late to Buy? was originally published by The Motley Fool

"Q2 was the best quarter in CrowdStrike's history," founder and CEO George Kurtz said in CrowdStrike's (NASDAQ:CRWD) release for its fiscal second quarter of 2027 (the period ended July 31, 2026), which came out Wednesday. Company chiefs say things like that often. But the numbers here back the claim up. And the market agreed. The cybersecurity specialist's shares jumped more than 20% on Thursday, closing at about $228, within about 1% of their 52-week high. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » I think the business deserved the applause. But I'm still not buying the stock. The reason is the price -- and what a buyer at this price needs the next several years to deliver. Image source: CrowdStrike. The headline metric for CrowdStrike is annual recurring revenue (ARR), the annualized value of its subscription contracts. Net new ARR (the amount added in the quarter) hit a record $332.8 million, up 51% year over year. Total ARR reached $5.84 billion, up 25% year over year. And ARR from customers on Falcon Flex, the company's flexible licensing model, more than doubled year over year to $2.29 billion. Revenue kept pace, rising 26% year over year to $1.47 billion in fiscal Q2, with subscription revenue up 27%. Profitability moved the right way, too. Non-GAAP (adjusted) operating income climbed 46% year over year to $371.6 million, adjusted subscription gross margin ticked up a point to 81%, and the company generated a fiscal second-quarter record $377.4 million in free cash flow, up 33%. Even on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) terms, which include heavy stock-based compensation, CrowdStrike swung to a small net profit from a $70.2 million loss a year earlier. The company also ended the quarter with $5.01 billion in cash and equivalents. Management raised its full-year outlook on the strength of it all. CrowdStrike now expects fiscal 2027 revenue of about $6 billion, guided fiscal third-quarter revenue to as much as $1.53 billion, and lifted its net new ARR growth outlook by 630 basis points, to 34% at the midpoint. Chief financial officer Burt Podbere pointed to a record fiscal third-quarter pipeline as well. The price. After Thursday's jump, CrowdStrike's market value stands near $232 billion, against $5.4 billion of trailing-12-month sales. That's about 43 times sales. Frame it on the raised outlook instead, and the picture barely improves: about 39 times expected sales for this fiscal year, and about 178 times the adjusted net income management's own guidance implies for the year. Whichever basis you use, the valuation sits at a level arguably reserved for a handful of companies in the entire market. A high multiple can be earned. CrowdStrike is growing 26%, converting a quarter of its revenue into free cash flow, and taking share in a security market with durable demand behind it. My problem isn't the business. It's how much of that future a buyer at today's price has already paid for. Play the guided pace forward. ARR ends this fiscal year around $6.6 billion, per management's raised outlook. Compound that at the current 25% growth rate for two more years, and CrowdStrike reaches roughly $10 billion in ARR by fiscal 2029. Impressive -- and at today's market value, the stock would still cost about 23 times ARR at that point. So what would it take to bring the multiple down? For the sales multiple to compress to 15 times sales by fiscal 2029 (still a premium price for a software business), revenue would need to reach about $15.5 billion. From the roughly $6 billion management just guided to for this fiscal year, that requires revenue growth of about 60% a year -- well more than double the pace of the outlook it just raised. In other words, today's price doesn't just assume CrowdStrike keeps executing. It assumes the company meaningfully accelerates from a record quarter, for years to come. Sure, net new ARR just grew 51%, so an acceleration isn't fantasy. It may even happen. But it's already in the price, and stocks priced this way can fall hard when good results arrive where the market expected great ones. Would I buy CrowdStrike after the best quarter in its history? Not at 43 times sales. If years of growth bring the sales multiple down into the teens, or the price gets there faster, I'd take another look. For now, the quarter raised my opinion of the business, and it didn't change my answer on the stock. 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Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. CrowdStrike Just Had Its Best Quarter Ever, and I'm Not Buying the Stock at 43 Times Revenue was originally published by The Motley Fool