CrowdStrike’s 1Q Revenue Outlook Tops Estimates After 4Q Beat

CrowdStrike reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Furthermore, the cybersecurity firm forecasted 1Q revenues that came in ahead of analysts’ expectations. Shares of CrowdStrike were 5.7% higher in Tuesday’s extended trading session.

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CrowdStrike (CRWD) delivered 4Q revenues of $264.9 million, which increased 74% year-over-year and topped consensus estimates of $250.6 million. Subscription revenues increased 77% year-over-year, while Professional Services revenues grew 49% year-over-year.

The company reported 4Q non-GAAP earnings of $0.13 per share, which fared better than analysts’ expectations of $0.08 per share. The bottom-line result also compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s loss of $0.02 per share.

The company’s CEO George Kurtz said, “CrowdStrike delivered a record fourth quarter and an exceptional finish to a strong fiscal year, achieving over $1 billion in ending ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue). The strong fourth quarter performance included record net new ARR of $143 million, 70% net new subscription customer growth year-over-year, and 77% year-over-year subscription revenue growth.”

For 1Q, the company projects revenues of between $287.8 million and $292.1 million, higher than the consensus estimate of $268.4 million. Moreover, its non-GAAP earnings guidance range of $0.05-$0.06 per share came in ahead of analysts’ expectations of $0.04. (See CrowdStrike stock analysis on TipRanks)

For fiscal 2022, the company projects revenues and non-GAAP earnings to be in the range of $1.31-$1.32 billion and $0.27-$0.30 per share, respectively. The consensus estimates for revenues and earnings are pegged at $1.22 billion and $0.33 per share, respectively.

Following the earnings release, Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley reiterated his Buy rating and price target of $280 (42.6% upside potential).

In a note to investors, Walkley wrote, “We view CrowdStrike as a long-term secular winner in security due to its native cloud platform advantage versus closely held peers, and its expansion into tangential segments to capture a greater share of security budgets.”

Overall, the rest of the Street has a bullish outlook on the stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 15 Buys and 2 Holds. The average analyst price target of $246.88 implies upside potential of about 25.8% to current levels. Shares have skyrocketed by about 495% over the past year.

On top of this, CRWD scores a “Perfect 10” from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.