Earnings season is just beginning; however, investors in CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) will have to wait until late November for the company’s upcoming financial report. Recent trends indicate that the stock’s 7.7% increase over the past month may be a precursor to more substantial growth anticipated throughout 2025 and into 2026.
Institutional interest in CrowdStrike is significantly strong, with analysts expressing an increasingly bullish outlook on CRWD stock. This positive sentiment suggests that long-term investors should not be deterred by the company’s high valuation but rather focus on the robust demand for its a la carte, AI-native platform.
The company has been outperforming expectations in the cybersecurity sector. According to a recent survey conducted by Wedbush, enterprise customers are surpassing spending targets for cybersecurity solutions, achieving 109% of quarterly goals, even as other budgets tighten. This trend underscores the persistent demand for cybersecurity solutions, reinforcing CrowdStrike’s appeal and the broader potential of cybersecurity stocks, which are positioned just behind leading AI tech companies.
Although some analysts have raised concerns about CrowdStrike’s valuation, with a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio around 27x—slightly above its historical average—recent data paints an optimistic picture. The Wedbush survey highlighted that CrowdStrike, alongside Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) and Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG), received the strongest positive feedback from enterprise customers, outperforming expectations by 5% to 9%. This suggests that CrowdStrike’s Falcon Flex platform is successfully expanding contracts across various sectors.
Skeptics point to 11 stock sales by high-level insiders and Congress members since August. However, many of these insider sales were executed as part of pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, indicating they were made regardless of the stock price. Additionally, while some congressional trades might seem questionable, the context of CrowdStrike’s expanding business with the federal government suggests these sell-offs might be instances of taking profits rather than signs of weakness.
Investor interest from institutional buyers remains robust, with transactions heavily favoring purchases—almost a 2:1 ratio over the last year, and nearly a 3:1 ratio in dollar terms ($18 billion in inflows against $7 billion in outflows). This consistent accumulation trend, visible since early 2023, indicates that major investors maintain confidence in CrowdStrike’s growth potential, even in light of the stock’s recent rally.
Currently, institutions hold over 70% of CrowdStrike’s outstanding shares, a figure that points to careful analysis and long-term investment strategies by these entities. Analyst sentiment reflects this trend as well; over the last 90 days, CrowdStrike has transitioned from being among the most downgraded stocks to one of the most upgraded. Analysts cite accelerated revenue growth, improving margins, and increasing demand for endpoint protection as the main factors in this positive shift.
Several firms, including Wells Fargo and Scotiabank, have raised their price targets significantly, with bullish predictions reaching as high as $600, indicating a potential increase of 21% from the stock’s closing price on October 16. Overall, with 48 analysts covering the stock, CrowdStrike holds a Moderate Buy consensus rating, reflecting strong institutional interest and an average price target of nearly $495, suggesting additional potential upside.
As CrowdStrike prepares for its upcoming earnings report, optimism surrounding its growth trajectory and continued demand for cybersecurity solutions persists, offering a hopeful outlook for investors eyeing long-term gains in the sector.