Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Updates Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) updated its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 0.340-0.340 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.260. The company issued revenue guidance of $736.0 million-$737.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $722.4 million. Cloudflare also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 1.250-1.260 EPS.

Cloudflare Price Performance

NYSE NET traded down $9.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $283.33. The company had a trading volume of 5,482,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,075,594. The company has a market capitalization of $100.15 billion, a PE ratio of -1,133.31, a P/E/G ratio of 219.10 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $255.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.26. Cloudflare has a twelve month low of $158.83 and a twelve month high of $305.00.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. Cloudflare had a negative net margin of 3.72% and a negative return on equity of 5.65%. The business had revenue of $696.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $664.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Cloudflare’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Cloudflare has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.340 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.260 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cloudflare will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NET shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Cloudflare from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cloudflare from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Cloudflare in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Cloudflare from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Cloudflare from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.27.

Insider Transactions at Cloudflare

In other news, Director Mark J. Hawkins sold 133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.74, for a total value of $36,939.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,931.68. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew Prince sold 33,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.10, for a total transaction of $9,958,139.10. 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 three months, insiders have sold 749,532 shares of company stock valued at $183,882,628. 10.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Cloudflare

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cloudflare beat second-quarter expectations. The company reported adjusted EPS of $0.29 versus the $0.27 consensus and revenue of $696.06 million versus estimates of approximately $664.7 million. Revenue increased 35.9% year over year, reinforcing demand for Cloudflare’s connectivity, security and developer products. Cloudflare Q2 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its outlook above Wall Street forecasts. Full-year 2026 EPS guidance increased to $1.25-$1.26, compared with consensus of $0.96, while revenue guidance was set at approximately $2.9 billion versus expectations of $2.8 billion. Third-quarter guidance also exceeded estimates, with EPS of $0.34 and revenue of $736-$737 million. Cloudflare raises annual outlook
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand is becoming a major growth driver. Cloudflare cited rising AI-agent traffic across its network and launched tools including an AEO Visibility Dashboard, Identity-Aware AI Gateway and Cloudflare OS. These offerings could expand its enterprise security, AI infrastructure and developer-platform markets. Cloudflare AEO Visibility Dashboard
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaction is mixed. Jefferies maintained a Hold rating, while broader coverage remains generally favorable. The stock’s high beta and sharp recent rally may be contributing to profit-taking even after the earnings beat.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Matthew Prince sold more than $45 million of shares across multiple transactions, and director Carl Ledbetter sold 5,000 shares for about $1.4 million. The transactions were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, limiting their value as a signal about business prospects, but they can still pressure investor sentiment. SEC insider filing
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a key risk. With Cloudflare valued at roughly $100 billion and still reporting a negative net margin, investors may demand continued acceleration in growth, profitability and cash flow. Any guidance or AI-demand disappointment could trigger further volatility.

Institutional Trading of Cloudflare

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cloudflare during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $424,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Cloudflare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cloudflare by 162.4% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cloudflare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cloudflare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Institutional investors own 82.68% of the company’s stock.

About Cloudflare

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.