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CrowdStrike Rises 21% YTD: Is the Stock Worth Buying Now?
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Key Takeaways
CRWD jumps 21% YTD, topping Zacks Security industry & peers.
Falcon Flex drives record $221M net new ARR in the second quarter.
Next-Gen SIEM ARR rockets 95%, disrupting legacy tools with AI edge.
CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD - Free Report) shares have soared 20.9% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Security industry’s 10.1% growth. The stock has also outperformed the returns of other industry peers, including SentinelOne (S - Free Report) , Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) and Check Point Software (CHKP - Free Report) . Year to date, shares of Check Point Software and Palo Alto Networks have gained 1.9% and 4.5%, respectively, while SentinelOne shares have lost 19.8%.
CrowdStrike has been riding on strong enterprise demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-native cybersecurity solutions. But with the stock outperforming the industry and peers, the question arises: Does it still have room to run, or is it time for investors to consider taking profits? Let’s find out.
YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CRWD Benefits From AI Integration and Subscription Growth
CrowdStrike’s subscription business model is driving its overall top-line performance. The company’s revenues crossed the $1 billion mark for the fourth consecutive time during the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and marked a year-over-year improvement of nearly 20.1%. This was partly achieved due to the strong adoption of the Falcon Flex Subscription Model, which allows customers to commit upfront and later choose modules, eliminating procurement friction.
CrowdStrike’s subscription customers, who adopted six or more cloud modules, represented 48% of the total subscription customers at the end of the second quarter. Those with seven or more cloud modules accounted for 33%, and those with eight or more cloud modules represented 23% as of July 31, 2025.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is gaining popularity as an “AI-native SOC,” with strong adoption in Charlotte AI Agentic Detection Triage, Workflows and Response. CrowdStrike is partnering with other AI companies to expand its capabilities.
CrowdStrike integrated its Falcon cybersecurity platform into NVIDIA's Enterprise AI Factory to enable enterprises to secure their AI systems, covering data ingestion, model training, and deployment. In the second quarter, CrowdStrike expanded on its partnership with NVIDIA to secure the entire AI life cycle. Falcon Cloud Security is now integrated with NVIDIA’s LLM NIM microservices and NeMo Safety, protecting more than 100,000 large language models.
In addition to NVIDIA, CrowdStrike strengthened its partner ecosystem during the second quarter. Amazon Business Prime added Falcon Go to their Business Prime membership for millions of small businesses, opening new opportunities in the Small and Medium Business market. In August 2025, it partnered with Zscaler and Red Canary (now owned by Zscaler) to offer customers comprehensive defense solutions. The partnership integrates CrowdStrike’s endpoint security platform, Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange platform and Red Canary's AI-driven managed detection and response capabilities.
These strategic partnerships, which contributed to more than 60% of new business during the second quarter, are expected to help CrowdStrike attract more customers and strengthen its position in the cybersecurity market. Though the consensus mark for fiscal 2026 EPS suggests a decline of 9.9%, it is forecasted to mark a strong recovery in fiscal 2027 with a jump of 33.4%.
A key driver of CrowdStrike’s customer growth is its Falcon Flex subscription model, which streamlines security adoption with modular and scalable solutions. This flexibility fosters long-term customer commitments, fueling steady revenue growth and deeper platform integration.
Falcon Flex makes it easier for customers to adopt multiple modules across CrowdStrike’s platform. Many are also using Flex to replace several legacy tools, choosing to consolidate around CrowdStrike. One such example is a Fortune 500 software firm that signed an eight-figure re-Flex deal to modernize its security operations center, where the firm renewed its contract 18 months before the expiration of the initial Falcon Flex subscription.
The company added a record $221 million in net new annual recurring revenue (ARR). This pushed up CrowdStrike’s total ARR to $4.66 billion, representing an increase of 20% from last year. A big part of this growth came from Falcon Flex, CrowdStrike’s subscription model. The company now has over 1,000 Falcon Flex customers, and more than 100 have already signed follow-on “re-Flex” deals before their contracts ended. These re-Flex deals are important because they show customers are expanding faster than expected, often boosting ARR by nearly 50%.
In the second quarter, CrowdStrike’s sales and non-GAAP EPS grew 21% and 5.7%, respectively, year over year. Looking ahead, management expects at least 40% year-over-year growth in net new ARR in the second half of fiscal 2026, where Falcon Flex can play a key role in helping the company reach its long-term goal of $10 billion ARR. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for both fiscal 2026 and 2027 revenues indicates a year-over-year increase of approximately 21%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CrowdStrike’s Next-Gen SIEM Fuels Growth Momentum
CrowdStrike is seeing strong momentum in its Next Generation (Next-Gen) Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) as part of its mission to protect enterprises against evolving cyber threats. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, SIEM annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew more than 95% year over year, reaching over $430 million.
In the second quarter, management noted that customers are moving away from legacy SIEM tools because of high costs and data limitations. This is where CrowdStrike’s Next-Gen SIEM comes into play. Next-Gen SIEM is cloud-based, integrated into the Falcon platform, and also priced differently, where customers do not pay for data generated inside Falcon, but only for third-party data ingested. This model is helping CrowdStrike win large replacement deals, including a recent seven-figure legacy SIEM displacement at a Global 2000 communications company.
To strengthen SIEM further, CrowdStrike recently agreed to acquire Onum, a data pipeline platform. Onum is designed to speed up data processing, cut storage costs, and enable faster detection. Through Onum, CrowdStrike aims to strengthen its Falcon Next- Gen SIEM to give its customers better control of their data while reducing response times.
The above factors show how the solution is gaining robust traction, as testified by its 95% year-over-year ARR growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. This was way higher than the company’s overall second-quarter ARR growth of 20%.
Conclusion: Buy CrowdStrike Stock Right Now
As businesses continue prioritizing AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, CrowdStrike’s leadership in threat prevention, response and recovery will only strengthen. The company’s subscription-based model and recurring revenue streams should provide stability and gradual growth, even amid ongoing macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical issues, making the stock an attractive investment option at present.
Image: Shutterstock
CrowdStrike Rises 21% YTD: Is the Stock Worth Buying Now?
Key Takeaways
CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD - Free Report) shares have soared 20.9% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Security industry’s 10.1% growth. The stock has also outperformed the returns of other industry peers, including SentinelOne (S - Free Report) , Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) and Check Point Software (CHKP - Free Report) . Year to date, shares of Check Point Software and Palo Alto Networks have gained 1.9% and 4.5%, respectively, while SentinelOne shares have lost 19.8%.
CrowdStrike has been riding on strong enterprise demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-native cybersecurity solutions. But with the stock outperforming the industry and peers, the question arises: Does it still have room to run, or is it time for investors to consider taking profits? Let’s find out.
YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CRWD Benefits From AI Integration and Subscription Growth
CrowdStrike’s subscription business model is driving its overall top-line performance. The company’s revenues crossed the $1 billion mark for the fourth consecutive time during the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and marked a year-over-year improvement of nearly 20.1%. This was partly achieved due to the strong adoption of the Falcon Flex Subscription Model, which allows customers to commit upfront and later choose modules, eliminating procurement friction.
CrowdStrike’s subscription customers, who adopted six or more cloud modules, represented 48% of the total subscription customers at the end of the second quarter. Those with seven or more cloud modules accounted for 33%, and those with eight or more cloud modules represented 23% as of July 31, 2025.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is gaining popularity as an “AI-native SOC,” with strong adoption in Charlotte AI Agentic Detection Triage, Workflows and Response. CrowdStrike is partnering with other AI companies to expand its capabilities.
CrowdStrike integrated its Falcon cybersecurity platform into NVIDIA's Enterprise AI Factory to enable enterprises to secure their AI systems, covering data ingestion, model training, and deployment. In the second quarter, CrowdStrike expanded on its partnership with NVIDIA to secure the entire AI life cycle. Falcon Cloud Security is now integrated with NVIDIA’s LLM NIM microservices and NeMo Safety, protecting more than 100,000 large language models.
In addition to NVIDIA, CrowdStrike strengthened its partner ecosystem during the second quarter. Amazon Business Prime added Falcon Go to their Business Prime membership for millions of small businesses, opening new opportunities in the Small and Medium Business market. In August 2025, it partnered with Zscaler and Red Canary (now owned by Zscaler) to offer customers comprehensive defense solutions. The partnership integrates CrowdStrike’s endpoint security platform, Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange platform and Red Canary's AI-driven managed detection and response capabilities.
These strategic partnerships, which contributed to more than 60% of new business during the second quarter, are expected to help CrowdStrike attract more customers and strengthen its position in the cybersecurity market. Though the consensus mark for fiscal 2026 EPS suggests a decline of 9.9%, it is forecasted to mark a strong recovery in fiscal 2027 with a jump of 33.4%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Falcon Flex Boosts CrowdStrike’s Platform Momentum
A key driver of CrowdStrike’s customer growth is its Falcon Flex subscription model, which streamlines security adoption with modular and scalable solutions. This flexibility fosters long-term customer commitments, fueling steady revenue growth and deeper platform integration.
Falcon Flex makes it easier for customers to adopt multiple modules across CrowdStrike’s platform. Many are also using Flex to replace several legacy tools, choosing to consolidate around CrowdStrike. One such example is a Fortune 500 software firm that signed an eight-figure re-Flex deal to modernize its security operations center, where the firm renewed its contract 18 months before the expiration of the initial Falcon Flex subscription.
The company added a record $221 million in net new annual recurring revenue (ARR). This pushed up CrowdStrike’s total ARR to $4.66 billion, representing an increase of 20% from last year. A big part of this growth came from Falcon Flex, CrowdStrike’s subscription model. The company now has over 1,000 Falcon Flex customers, and more than 100 have already signed follow-on “re-Flex” deals before their contracts ended. These re-Flex deals are important because they show customers are expanding faster than expected, often boosting ARR by nearly 50%.
In the second quarter, CrowdStrike’s sales and non-GAAP EPS grew 21% and 5.7%, respectively, year over year. Looking ahead, management expects at least 40% year-over-year growth in net new ARR in the second half of fiscal 2026, where Falcon Flex can play a key role in helping the company reach its long-term goal of $10 billion ARR. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for both fiscal 2026 and 2027 revenues indicates a year-over-year increase of approximately 21%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CrowdStrike’s Next-Gen SIEM Fuels Growth Momentum
CrowdStrike is seeing strong momentum in its Next Generation (Next-Gen) Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) as part of its mission to protect enterprises against evolving cyber threats. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, SIEM annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew more than 95% year over year, reaching over $430 million.
In the second quarter, management noted that customers are moving away from legacy SIEM tools because of high costs and data limitations. This is where CrowdStrike’s Next-Gen SIEM comes into play. Next-Gen SIEM is cloud-based, integrated into the Falcon platform, and also priced differently, where customers do not pay for data generated inside Falcon, but only for third-party data ingested. This model is helping CrowdStrike win large replacement deals, including a recent seven-figure legacy SIEM displacement at a Global 2000 communications company.
To strengthen SIEM further, CrowdStrike recently agreed to acquire Onum, a data pipeline platform. Onum is designed to speed up data processing, cut storage costs, and enable faster detection. Through Onum, CrowdStrike aims to strengthen its Falcon Next- Gen SIEM to give its customers better control of their data while reducing response times.
The above factors show how the solution is gaining robust traction, as testified by its 95% year-over-year ARR growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. This was way higher than the company’s overall second-quarter ARR growth of 20%.
Conclusion: Buy CrowdStrike Stock Right Now
As businesses continue prioritizing AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, CrowdStrike’s leadership in threat prevention, response and recovery will only strengthen. The company’s subscription-based model and recurring revenue streams should provide stability and gradual growth, even amid ongoing macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical issues, making the stock an attractive investment option at present.
CrowdStrike currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.