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Should You Buy, Sell or Hold CrowdStrike Stock Before Q1 Earnings?

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CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) is scheduled to report its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results on June 3, 2025.

CrowdStrike anticipates revenues between $1.1006 billion and $1.1064 billion for first-quarter fiscal 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRWD’s fiscal first-quarter revenues is pegged at $1.1 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 19.92%.

For the fiscal first quarter, the company expects non-GAAP earnings per share between 64 cents and 66 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRWD’s fiscal first-quarter earnings is pegged at 66 cents per share, indicating a year-over-year decline of 29%. The consensus mark for earnings has been revised upward by a penny over the past 60 days.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

CrowdStrike’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 11.65%. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

CrowdStrike Price and EPS Surprise

CrowdStrike Price and EPS Surprise

CrowdStrike price-eps-surprise | CrowdStrike Quote

Earnings Whispers for CRWD

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for CrowdStrike this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CRWD 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.

Factors Likely to Influence CRWD’s Q1 Results

CrowdStrike’s first-quarter fiscal 2026 results are likely to benefit from the robust demand of its cybersecurity products, given the increasing number of threat incidents across the globe. As a rising number of employees log into the enterprise's network, the vulnerabilities of cyber breaches lead to a greater need for security. These factors are likely to have spurred the demand for CRWD’s products in the fiscal first quarter. CrowdStrike’s robust pipeline of deals indicates that the company is ideally positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.

CrowdStrike’s robust revenue growth in subscriptions is likely to have contributed significantly to the first-quarter top line. Furthermore, the rising number of net new subscription customer additions might have acted as a tailwind for CrowdStrike.

CRWD’s partnership with Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) is a bright spot, enabling the company to gain from the availability of its products on the AWS platform. The expansion in the volume of transactions through Amazon’s AWS Marketplace, growth in co-selling opportunities with AWS and Salesforce, and the uptake of AWS service integrations are likely to have contributed to CRWD’s earnings in the to-be-reported quarter.

CrowdStrike has achieved C5 compliance from the German Federal Office for Information Security and FedRAMP authorization from the United States. This is likely to have brought in more government-based contracts, providing stability to its top line. Moreover, CrowdStrike gained multiple AI-based capabilities like AI Model Scanning, Shadow AI detection and Charlotte AI Agentic Detection Triage. These innovations are likely to have helped the company gain more customers.

CRWD Price Performance & Stock Valuation

In the year-to-date period, shares of CRWD have climbed 34.1%, outperforming the Zacks Security industry and its peers, including Check Point Software (CHKP - Free Report) , Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) and SentinelOne (S - Free Report) .

The Zacks Security industry has returned 17.2% year to date. Shares of Check Point Software and Palo Alto Networks have returned 20.1% and 2.1%, respectively, while SentinelOne shares have plunged 21.7% in the same time frame.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Now, let’s look at the value CRWD offers investors at the current levels. CRWD is trading at a premium with a forward 12-month P/S of 22.29X compared with the industry’s 14.24X, reflecting a stretched valuation.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Investment Consideration for CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike is facing several challenges related to customers’ negative sentiments since the global IT outage incident on July 19, 2024. The company has been implementing the Customer Commitment Package to retain its customers, which includes product additions and discounts, hence compressing its revenue recognition and profitability.

Amid customer backlash and ongoing regulatory scrutiny that could damage CrowdStrike’s reputation, competitors may seize the opportunity to attract and convert its customer base. The cybersecurity space already contains players like Palo Alto Networks, SentinelOne and Check Point, which provide similar products like CrowdStrike.

For instance, CrowdStrike’s Falcon Extended Detection and Response that connects multiple layers, including email, endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and network, to provide a comprehensive security competes with SentinelOne’s Singularity platform, which provides AI-powered endpoint protection and XDR. SentinelOne also offers Autonomous threat hunting and remediation like CRWD.

Like CRWD, Palo Alto Networks provides endpoint protection through Cortex XDR, which combines endpoint, network, and cloud data to detect and respond to threats. On the other hand, Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma Cloud competes with CRWD’s Falcon Cloud Security. CrowdStrike and Check Point Software compete particularly in endpoint protection, cloud security, and threat intelligence.

Conclusion: Sell CRWD Stock Now

CRWD's stretched valuation and precarious situation amid revenue compression, lowered profitability and stiff competition raise investors’ concerns. Considering all these factors, we believe it is prudent to stay away from this stock before the first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings.

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