Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Of 33 analysts covering Cloudflare, 21 rate it a buy and one a strong buy, versus seven holds and four sells. The average 12-month price target is $321.85.
• Cloudflare reported strong quarterly growth: Revenue rose 35.9% year over year to $696.06 million, exceeding estimates, while adjusted EPS of $0.29 beat expectations of $0.27. However, the company remains unprofitable on a net-margin basis.
• Valuation and insider selling remain risks: The stock trades near its 52-week high with a market capitalization of about $122.6 billion, while insiders sold roughly $130 million of shares over the past 90 days. Analysts have raised targets on AI and enterprise-security opportunities, but some caution that the premium valuation leaves limited room for execution errors.

Shares of Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-three ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $321.85.

A number of brokerages recently commented on NET. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Cloudflare from $314.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $300.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cloudflare in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cloudflare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 6th.

Insider Activity at Cloudflare

In related news, insider Alissa Michelle Starzak sold 2,538 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.68, for a total value of $773,277.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,082 shares in the company, valued at $34,149,143.76. This trade represents a 2.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michelle Zatlyn sold 33,003 shares of Cloudflare stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.43, for a total value of $9,156,022.29. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 69,775 shares in the company, valued at $19,357,678.25. The trade was a 32.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 452,736 shares of company stock valued at $129,957,883. Company insiders own 10.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 65.3% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 119 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in Cloudflare during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. CX Institutional lifted its position in Cloudflare by 49.4% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 133 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Cloudflare in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cloudflare during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 82.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cloudflare News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cloudflare announced a strategic partnership with Deutsche Telekom to distribute its enterprise security and connectivity products across Europe. The agreement could expand Cloudflare’s reach among corporate customers running AI and data-intensive workloads. Cloudflare Partners With a European Telecom to Reach More Enterprise Customers
• Positive Sentiment: The company said it intends to become a public certificate authority, offering traditional certificates and post-quantum Merkle Tree Certificates. The initiative could strengthen Cloudflare’s position in web security as customers prepare for future encryption threats. Cloudflare Announces Public Certificate Authority for the Post-Quantum Web
• Positive Sentiment: Cloudflare is highlighting growth opportunities for partners in AI security, network consolidation and enterprise services. Rising automated and AI-agent traffic could increase demand for Cloudflare’s network, security and connectivity products. Bot Traffic Will Be 1000X Bigger Than Human Traffic
• Neutral Sentiment: Post-quantum website certificates are scheduled to become available in early 2027. The product broadens Cloudflare’s long-term security opportunity, but the timing limits its immediate impact on revenue or earnings. Post-quantum Website Certificates from Cloudflare Are Scheduled for Early 2027
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain concerned that Cloudflare’s shares have risen sharply on AI-security enthusiasm and now carry a valuation that leaves little room for execution missteps. The stock’s very high earnings multiple makes it vulnerable when new catalysts do not immediately translate into stronger financial results. Cloudflare at $350: AI Cybersecurity Threats Aren’t Enough to Move the Needle Now
• Negative Sentiment: Cloudflare underperformed the broader market during the latest session, suggesting investors were taking profits or demanding clearer evidence that AI-related demand can justify the premium valuation. Cloudflare Falls More Steeply Than the Broader Market

Cloudflare Trading Down 1.6%

Cloudflare stock opened at $346.77 on Thursday. Cloudflare has a 1 year low of $158.83 and a 1 year high of $367.43. The firm's 50-day moving average is $304.62 and its 200-day moving average is $253.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $122.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -597.87, a PEG ratio of 280.17 and a beta of 1.66.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $696.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.66 million. Cloudflare had a negative net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 3.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. Cloudflare has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.340 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.260 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cloudflare will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc is a connectivity cloud company that provides services designed to help organizations make their websites, applications and networks more secure, reliable and faster. Its global network sits between users and the services they access, supporting content delivery, domain name system services, traffic optimization and protection against distributed denial-of-service attacks and other online threats.

The company offers a range of application and network security products, including web application firewalls, bot management, application programming interface protection, zero-trust security and secure access services.

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