Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Earns Buy Rating from BTIG Research

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $243.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 5.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NET. Barclays increased their price target on Cloudflare from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. DZ Bank raised Cloudflare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $224.00 price target on shares of Cloudflare in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Cloudflare from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Cloudflare in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.62.

Cloudflare Stock Performance

Shares of NET opened at $257.05 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Cloudflare has a 12 month low of $121.46 and a 12 month high of $260.00. The company has a market cap of $90.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -886.35 and a beta of 1.67.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Cloudflare had a negative return on equity of 7.24% and a negative net margin of 4.72%.The business had revenue of $639.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.83 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Cloudflare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.190-1.200 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.270-0.270 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cloudflare will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark J. Hawkins sold 133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.62, for a total transaction of $28,145.46. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,156,196.18. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Seifert sold 10,000 shares of Cloudflare stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 221,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,888,404.38. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 638,766 shares of company stock worth $125,757,221. 10.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cloudflare

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 693.3% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 119 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cloudflare during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Cloudflare during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 139 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 82.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Cloudflare

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — revenue rose ~33.5% to $639.8M and non-GAAP EPS of $0.25 topped consensus, showing strong demand across the business. This supports Cloudflare’s growth narrative. Cloudflare (NET) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Aggressive FY/Q2 EPS guidance — management raised FY 2026 EPS to $1.19–1.20 and set Q2 EPS at $0.27, both well above consensus EPS expectations, indicating management expects margin improvement (partly from cost actions). Cloudflare Announces First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Industry recognition and AI positioning — recent Forrester leadership placement and ongoing promotion of Cloudflare’s edge + AI strategy add credibility to its long-term TAM expansion in AI infrastructure and security. Why Cloudflare (NET) Is Up 17.3% After Forrester Names It an Edge Platform Leader
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships to bolster AI security — collaboration with Wiz targets “shadow AI” risks for customers, which could support product stickiness but is a longer‑horizon benefit. Cloudflare (NET) Partners with Wiz to Secure AI Applications Against Shadow AI
• Negative Sentiment: Large workforce cut — Cloudflare announced ~1,100 layoffs (≈20% of staff) as it shifts to an “agentic AI‑first” operating model. While framed as strategic, layoffs create short-term execution and morale risk and signal significant restructuring. Cloudflare to cut 20% jobs, quarterly revenue forecast falls short
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue guidance and market reaction — Q2 revenue guidance was roughly in line but just shy of some estimates, and investors focused on the combination of conservative near-term revenue outlook plus layoffs, driving a sharp after‑hours selloff. Cloudflare stock dives on Q1 earnings, company says AI is ‘biggest tailwind’ in history
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling noted — recent director/officer sales were reported, which investors sometimes view as a cautionary signal (though context and size vary). Insider Selling: Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Director Sells $558,381.60 in Stock

Cloudflare Company Profile

Cloudflare, Inc is a global web infrastructure and security company that provides a suite of services designed 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). Cloudflare also provides tools for bot management, SSL/TLS, load balancing and rate limiting to help organizations maintain uptime and protect web applications from attack.

In addition to traditional edge and security services, Cloudflare has expanded into edge computing and developer platforms.