Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Stock Jumps 4.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) traded up 4.2% on Tuesday after DZ Bank upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a buy rating. DZ Bank now has a $300.00 price target on the stock. Cloudflare traded as high as $306.95 and last traded at $306.0670. Approximately 4,630,577 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 13% from the average session volume of 4,083,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.75.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on NET. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $355.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $330.00 price objective on Cloudflare in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Cloudflare from $181.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Cloudflare from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Cloudflare from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $338.48.

Insider Activity

In other Cloudflare news, Director Carl Ledbetter sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.40, for a total transaction of $1,522,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 868,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,241,421.20. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.29, for a total value of $11,494,614.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 69,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,301,934.75. The trade was a 32.11% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 256,537 shares of company stock worth $78,750,901 over the last 90 days. 10.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cloudflare News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cloudflare reported Q3 revenue of $782.5 million, up 39.2% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $0.38 per share; both exceeded analyst expectations. The company also raised its full-year outlook. Why is Cloudflare stock rocketing higher today
• Positive Sentiment: Next-quarter revenue guidance came in well above estimates, and management cited demand for AI-related security and developer services. Cloudflare also moved its target for GAAP profitability forward to Q4 2026. Cloudflare Q3 earnings call puts AI demand and margins in focus
• Positive Sentiment: DZ Bank upgraded NET from “sell” to “buy,” signaling improved analyst sentiment. Its $300 price target, however, is slightly below the share price cited in the report. DZ Bank stock recommendations
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage describes Cloudflare’s quarter as a record, but notes a margin trade-off. Investors will watch whether spending and growth investments weigh on profitability as sales expand. Cloudflare’s best quarter ever comes with margin trade-off
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a risk after the recent rally: commentary highlights that the stock is expensive, leaving it vulnerable if growth or outlook disappoints. Cloudflare is up 11% in a week. Is its “even higher gear” really that good?

Institutional Trading of Cloudflare

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NET. GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cloudflare during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 65.3% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 119 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cloudflare in the second quarter worth $30,000. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 49.4% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 133 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cloudflare during the second quarter worth $33,000. 82.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cloudflare Trading Up 4.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $108.19 billion, a PE ratio of -450.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 206.44 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $318.15 and a 200-day moving average of $250.39.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $782.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $737.16 million. Cloudflare had a negative return on equity of 3.88% and a negative net margin of 8.21%. The business’s revenue was up 39.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cloudflare, Inc. will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cloudflare Company Profile

Cloudflare, Inc. provides cloud-based services that help businesses and other organizations protect, connect and improve the performance of websites, applications and networks. Its global network delivers services including content delivery, domain name system management, and protection against distributed denial-of-service attacks and other cyber threats. The company also offers web application security, bot management and Zero Trust services for securing access to applications and internal networks.