DZ Bank Upgrades Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) to Buy

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) was upgraded by research analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $215.00 price target on the stock. DZ Bank’s price target indicates a potential upside of 9.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on NET. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Cloudflare in a report on Monday, January 26th. New Street Research set a $140.00 target price on shares of Cloudflare in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $280.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cloudflare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.11.

Cloudflare Stock Up 5.8%

Cloudflare stock opened at $196.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Cloudflare has a fifty-two week low of $89.42 and a fifty-two week high of $260.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $190.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.80. The firm has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -675.84, a P/E/G ratio of 347.60 and a beta of 1.97.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michelle Zatlyn sold 35,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.26, for a total transaction of $6,993,826.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 24,555 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,829.30. This trade represents a 58.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Seifert sold 41,555 shares of Cloudflare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.18, for a total transaction of $8,069,149.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 137,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,697,031.48. This represents a 23.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 633,347 shares of company stock worth $124,873,834 over the last three months. 10.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Cloudflare by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,137,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Cordoba Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cloudflare in the fourth quarter worth $289,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 162.4% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 690,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,181,000 after purchasing an additional 163,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 172.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 40,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,063,000 after buying an additional 25,882 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.68% of the company’s stock.

Key Cloudflare News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Cloudflare reported revenue of ~$614.5M (+33.6% YoY) and EPS of $0.28, with management highlighting record deal activity, rising RPO/cRPO and improving free cash flow. MSN: Q4 growth
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue guidance topped estimates — management raised FY‑2026 revenue outlook (management cited a figure near $2.795B), signaling confidence in sustained demand and driving the rally. Investing.com: Guidance beats
• Positive Sentiment: AI tailwind — multiple reports and management commentary point to rising “agentic” traffic (e.g., Moltbot) that boosts security, networking and edge services, creating a durable demand cycle. Yahoo: AI deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — several firms upgraded or raised targets (examples include Robert W. Baird to outperform/$260 and DZ Bank to buy/$215), adding conviction to the upside thesis. Finviz: Analyst moves
• Positive Sentiment: Elevated options activity — unusually large call buying (13,474 contracts) suggests short‑term bullish/speculative positioning around the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst notes — some firms reaffirm neutral/hold stances (Cantor Fitzgerald) or trimmed PTs modestly while keeping buy ratings, reflecting differing views on valuation vs. growth. Zacks: Analyst roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation questions persist — coverage pieces and valuation checks note Cloudflare’s rich multiples given ongoing margin/headwind dynamics, so upside depends on continued revenue leverage. Yahoo: Valuation check
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale disclosed — director John Graham‑Cumming sold 2,520 shares; small relative to his holdings but noted by the market. SEC: Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional profit‑taking — at least one fund materially trimmed its stake in recent filings, evidence of some near‑term selling pressure amid the rally. DefenseWorld: Institutional trimming
• Negative Sentiment: Some target cuts — a few analysts reduced price targets (e.g., Scotiabank), underscoring uneven short‑term sentiment despite the beat. TickerReport: PT cuts

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.