Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) was upgraded by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on NET. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cloudflare in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cloudflare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $224.00 price objective on shares of Cloudflare in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cloudflare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.21.

Cloudflare Stock Performance

Shares of NET stock opened at $189.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $190.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.45 billion, a PE ratio of -654.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 156.00 and a beta of 1.97. Cloudflare has a 52-week low of $89.42 and a 52-week high of $260.00.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $614.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.67 million. Cloudflare had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 4.72%.The company’s revenue was up 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cloudflare will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cloudflare

In related news, insider Douglas James Kramer sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.19, for a total transaction of $528,570.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 101,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,812,985.19. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Graham-Cumming sold 2,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total transaction of $436,842.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 495,191 shares in the company, valued at $85,841,359.85. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 633,347 shares of company stock valued at $124,873,834. 10.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cloudflare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cloudflare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,407,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,389,167,000 after purchasing an additional 90,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,018,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,044,000 after buying an additional 241,981 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cloudflare by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,964,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,792,000 after buying an additional 49,485 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cloudflare in the 4th quarter valued at about $718,316,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Cloudflare by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,824,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,904,000 after acquiring an additional 131,127 shares during the last quarter. 82.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Cloudflare

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — revenue $614.5M (+33.6% YoY) and EPS $0.28, above consensus; management highlighted record ACV and strong RPO/cRPO growth. Business Wire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Company issued revenue guidance above Street estimates (2026 revenue target cited at ~$2.795B) and raised near-term outlook, signaling confidence in AI-driven demand. Reuters: Guidance and AI demand
• Positive Sentiment: AI agent tailwind — management and multiple outlets point to rising agentic traffic (e.g., Moltbot) boosting security, networking usage and a “virtuous flywheel” for Cloudflare. This narrative is driving investor enthusiasm. CNBC: AI agent wave
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: several firms raised price targets or reiterated bullish ratings (notably Wells Fargo to $270 and Barclays to $250), providing additional upside narratives. Benzinga: Analyst moves
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating with a $224 target — signals mixed sentiment despite earnings strength. Street Insider: Cantor Fitzgerald
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham trimmed its price target (from $285 to $250) but kept a buy rating — a modestly cautious tone amid continued upside thesis. Street Insider: Needham PT change
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Director John Graham-Cumming sold 2,520 shares (small portion of his position); disclosed on an SEC Form 4. While not large relative to his holdings, insider sales can raise short-term concerns. SEC: Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional trimming: Alfreton Capital reduced its Cloudflare stake by ~55% in the latest filing, indicating some institutional profit-taking. DefenseWorld: Alfreton selling
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts trimmed targets (e.g., Scotiabank cut PT to $225), introducing mixed short-term analyst sentiment despite overall bullish tilt. TickerReport: Scotiabank PT cut

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.