Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on NET. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on Cloudflare from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Cloudflare from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Cloudflare from $230.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna set a $190.00 price objective on Cloudflare in a research report on Thursday. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.11.

Cloudflare Stock Performance

Shares of NET stock opened at $196.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -675.84, a PEG ratio of 328.65 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $190.27 and a 200 day moving average of $204.76. Cloudflare has a 52 week low of $89.42 and a 52 week high of $260.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

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

Insider Activity

In other Cloudflare news, CFO Thomas J. Seifert sold 41,555 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 137,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,697,031.48. This trade represents a 23.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.32, for a total transaction of $10,231,642.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,331,221. This represents a 70.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 Trading of Cloudflare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reliant Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cloudflare by 1.5% during the third quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cloudflare by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 22.8% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 3.0% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.68% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cloudflare

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.