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CRWD vs. NET: Which Cybersecurity Stock Has an Edge Right Now?
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Key Takeaways
Cloudflare's AI security, SASE and Zero Trust demand strengthen its long-term growth outlook.
NET's 2026 revenue and EPS estimates project growth of 32.3% and 35.5%, respectively.
CrowdStrike's revenue growth has slowed, with fiscal 2027 estimates pointing to 24.6% growth.
CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) and Cloudflare (NET - Free Report) are well-known players in the cybersecurity domain. While CrowdStrike specializes in endpoint protection and extended detection and response, offering AI-native cloud security through its Falcon platform, Cloudflare provides a cloud-native platform spanning network security, application security and connectivity.
Both CRWD and NET are riding the key industry trends, driven by the mounting incidents of credential theft, remote desktop protocol breaches and social engineering-based strikes by malicious actors. However, from an investment point of view, one stock offers a more favorable outlook than the other right now. Let’s break down their fundamentals, growth prospects, market challenges and valuation to determine which stock offers a more compelling investment case.
The Case for CrowdStrike Stock
CrowdStrike provides its cybersecurity services mainly through its Falcon platform. CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is renowned for being the industry’s first multi-tenant, cloud native, intelligent security solution. The Falcon platform helps secure workloads across on-premises, cloud-based and virtualized environments running on several endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, servers, virtual machines and IoT devices.
CrowdStrike’s cloud-based Falcon platform currently provides 33 cloud modules via a software-as-a-service subscription model that is categorized into three categories: Endpoint Security, Security & IT Operations and Threat Intelligence. The share of subscription-based sales to CrowdStrike’s total revenues grew from 72% in fiscal 2017 to 95% in fiscal 2026.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon Flex subscription model is becoming an important driver of its growth. Falcon Flex makes it easier for customers to access multiple modules of the Falcon platform through a single contract. This makes it easier for customers to deploy additional security products over time and expand their use of the Falcon platform, which has now become the company’s primary go-to-market model.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, Annual recurring revenues (ARR) from Flex accounts crossed $2.29 billion, up 101% year over year, which shows strong adoption across enterprise customers. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, CrowdStrike added more than 935 Flex customers and ended the second quarter with over 2,900 customers who have adopted Falcon Flex.
However, CrowdStrike’s recent quarterly reports have shown a deceleration in its growth rate. The company's revenue growth, while still robust, is not as explosive as in previous years. CrowdStrike had enjoyed more than 35% year-over-year top-line growth through fiscal 2024. The growth rate decelerated to 29% in fiscal 2025 and to 22% in fiscal 2026. For fiscal 2027, CrowdStrike expects total revenues to be in the range of $5.991 billion to $6.011 billion. This indicates that the top-line growth is expected to stay around 25%, which is way lower than the explosive growth enjoyed by the company in the previous years.
The Case for NET Stock
Cloudflare is seeing stronger demand for its SASE and Zero Trust offerings as companies look to adopt AI more securely. Management said the key reason big companies are approaching Cloudflare is that they know they need AI but want to deploy it securely. This is creating new opportunities for the company’s SASE and Zero Trust platforms, particularly as enterprises need to secure AI agents in addition to human users.
Cloudflare believes its developer-focused approach gives it an advantage in this market. Management said companies will have more AI agents working across their organizations and will need a security model designed for these agents. In one example, a large U.K. government agency was evaluating a first-generation Zero Trust provider but reconsidered the project after discussing its plans for AI agents with Cloudflare. Management said the agency canceled its existing request for proposal and is now reevaluating the project with an agents-first approach. Cloudflare believes its developer-focused approach has helped its SASE and Zero Trust platforms gain significant share over the past six months.
Customer wins in the quarter also show demand for Cloudflare’s security platform. A Fortune 100 technology company signed a $5.2 million, three-year contract for Cloudflare’s full SASE portfolio. The customer is replacing legacy VPNs and virtual desktops and moving its global workforce to a single Zero Trust platform. Cloudflare beat two first-generation Zero Trust vendors in the deal because of its network performance and unified management, with the customer expecting to operate the services with roughly one-third the staff.
The broader shift toward AI could therefore support Cloudflare’s SASE and Zero Trust growth. The company is also seeing enterprises replace fragmented security tools with its unified platform. Sustaining its recent market-share gains will depend on how well Cloudflare can convert growing AI security needs into larger and longer-term enterprise contracts.
CRWD vs. NET: Which Has the Stronger Growth Outlook?
Both companies will benefit from the surging demand for cybersecurity, but Cloudflare’s growth profile appears stronger in the long term.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cloudflare’s 2026 revenues and EPS indicates a year-over-year surge of 32.3% and 35.5%, respectively. For 2027, top and bottom lines are projected to grow 28.4% and 36.5%, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In contrast, CrowdStrike’s fiscal 2027 estimates point to more modest growth, with revenues and EPS indicating a year-over-year increase of 24.6% and 35.5%, respectively. For fiscal 2028, top and bottom lines are both projected to grow 22.4% and 27.8%, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CRWD vs. NET: Price Performance and Valuation
Year to date, shares of CRWD and NET have surged 76.4% and 55.5%, respectively.
CRWD Vs. NET: YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Currently, NET is trading at a forward sales multiple of 31.48X, higher than CRWD’s forward sales multiple of 31.01X. NET’s higher valuation reflects strong investor confidence in AI security demand, putting it above CRWD in terms of valuation, reflecting the high growth expectations of the company in the long term.
CRWD vs. NET: Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion: NET Has an Edge Over CRWD
Both CrowdStrike and Cloudflare are key players in the cybersecurity space, but CrowdStrike is witnessing a slowdown in its sales growth. In contrast, Cloudflare continues to benefit from strong demand for AI security, SASE and Zero Trust solutions. Further, NET’s valuation reflects high growth expectations, as Cloudflare remains well positioned to benefit from rising AI security demand over the long term.
Currently, NET carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), giving the stock a clear edge compared to CRWD, which has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
CRWD vs. NET: Which Cybersecurity Stock Has an Edge Right Now?
Key Takeaways
CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) and Cloudflare (NET - Free Report) are well-known players in the cybersecurity domain. While CrowdStrike specializes in endpoint protection and extended detection and response, offering AI-native cloud security through its Falcon platform, Cloudflare provides a cloud-native platform spanning network security, application security and connectivity.
Both CRWD and NET are riding the key industry trends, driven by the mounting incidents of credential theft, remote desktop protocol breaches and social engineering-based strikes by malicious actors. However, from an investment point of view, one stock offers a more favorable outlook than the other right now. Let’s break down their fundamentals, growth prospects, market challenges and valuation to determine which stock offers a more compelling investment case.
The Case for CrowdStrike Stock
CrowdStrike provides its cybersecurity services mainly through its Falcon platform. CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is renowned for being the industry’s first multi-tenant, cloud native, intelligent security solution. The Falcon platform helps secure workloads across on-premises, cloud-based and virtualized environments running on several endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, servers, virtual machines and IoT devices.
CrowdStrike’s cloud-based Falcon platform currently provides 33 cloud modules via a software-as-a-service subscription model that is categorized into three categories: Endpoint Security, Security & IT Operations and Threat Intelligence. The share of subscription-based sales to CrowdStrike’s total revenues grew from 72% in fiscal 2017 to 95% in fiscal 2026.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon Flex subscription model is becoming an important driver of its growth. Falcon Flex makes it easier for customers to access multiple modules of the Falcon platform through a single contract. This makes it easier for customers to deploy additional security products over time and expand their use of the Falcon platform, which has now become the company’s primary go-to-market model.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, Annual recurring revenues (ARR) from Flex accounts crossed $2.29 billion, up 101% year over year, which shows strong adoption across enterprise customers. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, CrowdStrike added more than 935 Flex customers and ended the second quarter with over 2,900 customers who have adopted Falcon Flex.
However, CrowdStrike’s recent quarterly reports have shown a deceleration in its growth rate. The company's revenue growth, while still robust, is not as explosive as in previous years. CrowdStrike had enjoyed more than 35% year-over-year top-line growth through fiscal 2024. The growth rate decelerated to 29% in fiscal 2025 and to 22% in fiscal 2026. For fiscal 2027, CrowdStrike expects total revenues to be in the range of $5.991 billion to $6.011 billion. This indicates that the top-line growth is expected to stay around 25%, which is way lower than the explosive growth enjoyed by the company in the previous years.
The Case for NET Stock
Cloudflare is seeing stronger demand for its SASE and Zero Trust offerings as companies look to adopt AI more securely. Management said the key reason big companies are approaching Cloudflare is that they know they need AI but want to deploy it securely. This is creating new opportunities for the company’s SASE and Zero Trust platforms, particularly as enterprises need to secure AI agents in addition to human users.
Cloudflare believes its developer-focused approach gives it an advantage in this market. Management said companies will have more AI agents working across their organizations and will need a security model designed for these agents. In one example, a large U.K. government agency was evaluating a first-generation Zero Trust provider but reconsidered the project after discussing its plans for AI agents with Cloudflare. Management said the agency canceled its existing request for proposal and is now reevaluating the project with an agents-first approach. Cloudflare believes its developer-focused approach has helped its SASE and Zero Trust platforms gain significant share over the past six months.
Customer wins in the quarter also show demand for Cloudflare’s security platform. A Fortune 100 technology company signed a $5.2 million, three-year contract for Cloudflare’s full SASE portfolio. The customer is replacing legacy VPNs and virtual desktops and moving its global workforce to a single Zero Trust platform. Cloudflare beat two first-generation Zero Trust vendors in the deal because of its network performance and unified management, with the customer expecting to operate the services with roughly one-third the staff.
The broader shift toward AI could therefore support Cloudflare’s SASE and Zero Trust growth. The company is also seeing enterprises replace fragmented security tools with its unified platform. Sustaining its recent market-share gains will depend on how well Cloudflare can convert growing AI security needs into larger and longer-term enterprise contracts.
CRWD vs. NET: Which Has the Stronger Growth Outlook?
Both companies will benefit from the surging demand for cybersecurity, but Cloudflare’s growth profile appears stronger in the long term.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cloudflare’s 2026 revenues and EPS indicates a year-over-year surge of 32.3% and 35.5%, respectively. For 2027, top and bottom lines are projected to grow 28.4% and 36.5%, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In contrast, CrowdStrike’s fiscal 2027 estimates point to more modest growth, with revenues and EPS indicating a year-over-year increase of 24.6% and 35.5%, respectively. For fiscal 2028, top and bottom lines are both projected to grow 22.4% and 27.8%, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CRWD vs. NET: Price Performance and Valuation
Year to date, shares of CRWD and NET have surged 76.4% and 55.5%, respectively.
CRWD Vs. NET: YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Currently, NET is trading at a forward sales multiple of 31.48X, higher than CRWD’s forward sales multiple of 31.01X. NET’s higher valuation reflects strong investor confidence in AI security demand, putting it above CRWD in terms of valuation, reflecting the high growth expectations of the company in the long term.
CRWD vs. NET: Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion: NET Has an Edge Over CRWD
Both CrowdStrike and Cloudflare are key players in the cybersecurity space, but CrowdStrike is witnessing a slowdown in its sales growth. In contrast, Cloudflare continues to benefit from strong demand for AI security, SASE and Zero Trust solutions. Further, NET’s valuation reflects high growth expectations, as Cloudflare remains well positioned to benefit from rising AI security demand over the long term.
Currently, NET carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), giving the stock a clear edge compared to CRWD, which has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.