Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $179.98, but opened at $203.05. Cloudflare shares last traded at $198.11, with a volume of 5,328,346 shares.

The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $614.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.67 million. Cloudflare had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 4.72%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share.

Trending Headlines about Cloudflare

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — revenue $614.5M (+33.6% YoY) and EPS $0.28, above consensus; management highlighted record ACV and strong RPO/cRPO growth. Business Wire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Company issued revenue guidance above Street estimates (2026 revenue target cited at ~$2.795B) and raised near-term outlook, signaling confidence in AI-driven demand. Reuters: Guidance and AI demand
• Positive Sentiment: AI agent tailwind — management and multiple outlets point to rising agentic traffic (e.g., Moltbot) boosting security, networking usage and a “virtuous flywheel” for Cloudflare. This narrative is driving investor enthusiasm. CNBC: AI agent wave
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: several firms raised price targets or reiterated bullish ratings (notably Wells Fargo to $270 and Barclays to $250), providing additional upside narratives. Benzinga: Analyst moves
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating with a $224 target — signals mixed sentiment despite earnings strength. Street Insider: Cantor Fitzgerald
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham trimmed its price target (from $285 to $250) but kept a buy rating — a modestly cautious tone amid continued upside thesis. Street Insider: Needham PT change
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Director John Graham-Cumming sold 2,520 shares (small portion of his position); disclosed on an SEC Form 4. While not large relative to his holdings, insider sales can raise short-term concerns. SEC: Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional trimming: Alfreton Capital reduced its Cloudflare stake by ~55% in the latest filing, indicating some institutional profit-taking. DefenseWorld: Alfreton selling
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts trimmed targets (e.g., Scotiabank cut PT to $225), introducing mixed short-term analyst sentiment despite overall bullish tilt. TickerReport: Scotiabank PT cut

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NET shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cloudflare in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $224.00 price objective on shares of Cloudflare in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research raised their target price on Cloudflare from $199.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities set a $270.00 target price on Cloudflare in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cloudflare

In related news, insider Douglas James Kramer sold 3,000 shares of Cloudflare stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total transaction of $528,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 101,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,812,985.19. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carl Ledbetter sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.16, for a total value of $3,167,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 953,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,250,894.68. This represents a 1.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 633,347 shares of company stock worth $124,873,834. 10.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cloudflare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reliant Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Cloudflare by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 1.8% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Cloudflare by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 82.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cloudflare Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $66.45 billion, a PE ratio of -654.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 156.00 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.92.

Cloudflare Company Profile

Cloudflare, Inc is a global web infrastructure and security company that provides a suite of services designed to improve the performance, reliability and security of internet properties. Its core offerings include a content delivery network (CDN), distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection, managed DNS, and a web application firewall (WAF). Cloudflare also provides tools for bot management, SSL/TLS, load balancing and rate limiting to help organizations maintain uptime and protect web applications from attack.

In addition to traditional edge and security services, Cloudflare has expanded into edge computing and developer platforms.