Shares of CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) are down 7% after the cybersecurity concern reported disappointing forward guidance that overshadowed strong fourth-quarter 2024 financial results.
The Texas-based company announced earnings per share of $1.03, which trounced consensus expectations of $0.86. Revenue of $1.06 billion also beat Wall Street forecasts that called for $1.04 billion. The company’s sales grew 25% from a year earlier.
Despite the strong print, CRWD stock fell as the company offered forward guidance that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Management said they foresee earnings in the current first quarter of between $0.64 and $0.66 a share, well below Wall Street’s estimate of $0.95. Earnings for the entire year are expected to be between $3.33 and $3.45 per share, also below forecasts of $4.40.
IT Outage Impacts
Management blamed the poor outlook on lingering impacts from the company’s software update last summer that led to widespread crashes of computers using Microsoft’s (MSFT) personal computer operating systems, resulting in information technology outages worldwide.
Banks, airlines, television broadcasters, and mega-cap technology companies were all disrupted by the IT outage, and CrowdStrike has since been hit by multiple lawsuits over the event, including a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the company’s shareholders.
CRWD stock has gained 31% over the past 12 months.
Is CRWD Stock a Buy?
The stock of CrowdStrike Holdings has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 22 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 19 Buy and three Hold recommendations issued in the past three months. The average CRWD price target of $439.76 implies 12.71% upside from current levels. These ratings are likely to change after the company’s financial results.
