Cloudflare, Inc.

New York Stock Exchange
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Bullish +75

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

📈 Cloudflare shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $292.63 before closing at $288.16 on Friday.

📉 Analyst ratings remain mixed with a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and a price target of $262.00 based on MarketBeat data.

⚠️ Weiss Ratings restated its recommendation to "sell (d-)" while Zacks Research upgraded the stock to "strong-buy."

📉 Jefferies Financial Group cut its rating from "buy" to "hold," and UBS Group raised its price target to $250 with a "neutral" stance.

💰 The company reported Q1 2026 earnings of $0.25 EPS, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02.

📈 Revenue for the quarter reached $639.75 million, representing a 33.5% year-over-year increase compared to analyst expectations of $620.83 million.

⚠️ Cloudflare reported a negative net margin of -3.72% and a negative return on equity of -5.65% for the period.

📉 Insider Michelle Zatlyn sold 25,641 shares worth approximately $5.62 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

📉 Director Mark J. Hawkins sold 133 shares worth $33,117, reducing his direct ownership by 1.22% of the company's stock.

📉 Corporate insiders have collectively sold 549,770 shares valued at over $124 million in the last 90 days.

🏢 Institutional investors hold a significant majority stake, owning 82.68% of the company's total stock.

📈 CX Institutional increased its holdings by 49.4% in the second quarter to own 133 shares valued at $33,000.

🔒 Cloudflare provides global web infrastructure services including content delivery networks (CDN), DDoS protection, and managed DNS.

🛡️ The company's core offerings include web application firewalls (WAF) and tools for bot management and SSL/TLS encryption.

💻 Cloudflare has expanded its portfolio to include edge computing solutions and developer platforms beyond traditional security services.

Bullish Signals
  • Shares of Cloudflare hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $292.63.
  • The company reported quarterly revenue of $639.75 million, beating analyst estimates of $620.83 million by $18.92 million.
  • Quarterly revenue grew 33.5% year-over-year, demonstrating strong top-line growth momentum.
  • Cloudflare beat earnings expectations with EPS of $0.25 versus the consensus estimate of $0.23.
  • Citizens JMP boosted its price target on Cloudflare from $270.00 to $330.00 and assigned a 'market outperform' rating.
  • UBS Group raised its price target on Cloudflare from $220.00 to $250.00.
  • Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a 'hold' rating to a 'strong-buy' rating.
  • The company has set FY 2026 EPS guidance between $1.190 and $1.200, indicating confidence in future profitability.
  • Institutional investor CX Institutional raised its holdings by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter.
  • HM Payson & Co., Wiser Advisor Group LLC, Wexford Capital LP, and Cape Investment Advisory Inc. all purchased new stakes in the company.
Risk Factors
  • The company reported a negative net margin of 3.72% and a negative return on equity of 5.65%, indicating profitability challenges despite revenue growth.
Full Analysis
Shares of Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) reached a new 52-week high on Friday, trading as high as $292.63 before closing at $288.1590 with a volume of 346,485 shares. The stock previously closed at $283.39, marking a significant rally despite mixed analyst sentiment. Research ratings for the company have varied widely in recent weeks; Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on July 17th, while Jefferies Financial Group cut its rating to "hold" on July 7th. Conversely, Zacks Research upgraded the stock to a "strong-buy" on July 20th, and Citizens Jmp raised its price target from $270.00 to $330.00 with a "market outperform" rating on the same day. UBS Group also increased its price target to $250.00 in June. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the consensus rating remains "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $262.00. Financially, Cloudflare reported earnings for the quarter ending May 7th, delivering $0.25 EPS which beat the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Revenue for the quarter reached $639.75 million, surpassing analyst expectations of $620.83 million and representing a 33.5% year-over-year increase compared to $481.67 million in the prior period. However, the company reported a negative net margin of 3.72% and a negative return on equity of 5.65%. For fiscal year 2026, Cloudflare has set EPS guidance between $1.190 and $1.200, while Q2 2026 guidance stands at $0.270 per share. Analysts currently predict an average EPS of $0.03 for the current year. Insider trading activity shows a net reduction in ownership among corporate insiders over the last 90 days, during which they sold 549,770 shares worth approximately $124.09 million. Notable transactions include CEO Michelle Zatlyn selling 25,641 shares on June 18th at an average price of $219.11 for a total value of $5.62 million, reducing her stake by 35.09% to 47,425 shares. Director Mark J. Hawkins sold 133 shares on July 1st at $249.00 per share, decreasing his ownership by 1.22%. Despite these sales, corporate insiders still hold 10.66% of the company's stock. Institutional investors maintain a dominant position with an 82.68% ownership stake, with recent activity including new stakes from HM Payson & Co., Wiser Advisor Group LLC, and Wexford Capital LP, as well as increased holdings by CX Institutional and Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Cloudflare operates as a global web infrastructure and security company providing services 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). The company also provides tools for bot management, SSL/TLS, load balancing, and rate limiting to help organizations maintain uptime and protect applications from attacks. Beyond traditional edge and security services, Cloudflare has expanded its portfolio into edge computing and developer platforms.