Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Shares Climb 6% – Here’s Why

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET)’s share price traded up 6% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $309.11 and last traded at $309.22. Approximately 926,309 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 4,035,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $291.69.

Trending Headlines about Cloudflare

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cloudflare expanded Cloudflare OS, its AI workspace platform, with integrations for enterprise software tools. The broader partner ecosystem could support adoption by large corporate customers while keeping AI data and access controls within Cloudflare’s security platform. Cloudflare Deepens Cloudflare OS Ties With Enterprise Software
• Positive Sentiment: More than 10 million developers are reportedly building on Cloudflare, reinforcing the company’s positioning in developer tools, Workers and AI-related workloads. Continued developer adoption could support future customer and revenue growth. More than 10 Million Developers Are Building on Cloudflare
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel reiterated a Buy rating, citing opportunities across Cloudflare’s various growth initiatives. TD Cowen also lifted its price target to $375, adding support for the bullish case. Stifel Reiterates Buy on Cloudflare
• Neutral Sentiment: Cloudflare’s latest reported quarter showed revenue growth of 35.9% and adjusted EPS of $0.29, above the $0.27 consensus estimate. However, the company remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, making future growth execution particularly important.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a key risk. Analysts and commentary noted that NET trades at a very high sales multiple while still reporting losses. The stock had declined 15.2% over the week through October 19, substantially underperforming the broader market, increasing concerns about volatility and expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Thomas Seifert sold 12,500 shares for approximately $3.74 million, while director Carl Ledbetter sold 5,000 shares for about $1.52 million. Both transactions were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, which reduces their significance as discretionary bearish signals, but the sales may still weigh modestly on sentiment. Cloudflare CFO Insider Sale

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark cut Cloudflare to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research lowered Cloudflare from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Cloudflare from $300.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Cloudflare from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cloudflare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.59.

Cloudflare Stock Up 6.9%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $110.23 billion, a PE ratio of -537.24, a P/E/G ratio of 236.68 and a beta of 1.65.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $696.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.66 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 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. Cloudflare has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.340 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.260 EPS. Analysts expect that Cloudflare, Inc. will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michelle Zatlyn sold 33,003 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.63, for a total transaction of $9,723,673.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 69,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,557,808.25. This trade represents a 32.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Thomas Seifert sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.30, for a total value of $16,516,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 113,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,171,137. The trade was a 32.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 476,339 shares of company stock worth $143,439,267. Insiders own 10.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cloudflare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Cloudflare by 274.5% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,919 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in Cloudflare by 3.5% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cloudflare by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,207,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Cloudflare by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 7.0% in the third quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.68% of the company’s stock.

Cloudflare Company Profile

Cloudflare, Inc (NYSE: NET) provides cloud connectivity, security and performance services for websites, applications, corporate networks and other internet-connected resources. Its global network is designed to help organizations improve the reliability, speed and security of digital services while reducing the complexity of managing internet infrastructure.

The company’s offerings include content delivery and authoritative domain name system services, distributed denial-of-service protection, web application and application programming interface security, bot management, and network security tools.