Cloudflare (NET) Stock Falls Amid Market Uptick: What Investors Need to Know

In This Article:

In the latest trading session, Cloudflare (NET) closed at $111.58, marking a -0.99% move from the previous day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.73% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.16%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.98%.

Heading into today, shares of the web security and content delivery company had gained 8.12% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.28% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.34% in that time.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Cloudflare in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.18, indicating a 20% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $451.8 million, showing a 24.65% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $0.74 per share and a revenue of $1.66 billion, indicating changes of +51.02% and +28.12%, respectively, from the former year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Cloudflare. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 10.12% upward. Currently, Cloudflare is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Cloudflare is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 152.28. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 33.63, so one might conclude that Cloudflare is trading at a premium comparatively.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 32, this industry ranks in the top 13% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.