Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Cloudflare from $280.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Susquehanna set a $190.00 target price on Cloudflare in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Cloudflare from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial set a $225.00 price objective on Cloudflare in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cloudflare in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cloudflare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.11.

Cloudflare Stock Performance

Shares of NET stock opened at $196.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.76. The company has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -675.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 328.65 and a beta of 1.97. Cloudflare has a 12-month low of $89.42 and a 12-month high of $260.00.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $614.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.67 million. Cloudflare had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 4.72%.Cloudflare’s quarterly revenue was up 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cloudflare will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cloudflare

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Seifert sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.37, for a total transaction of $1,783,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 137,486 shares in the company, valued at $24,523,377.82. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michelle Zatlyn sold 25,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.05, for a total transaction of $4,873,072.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 24,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,666,677.75. The trade was a 51.08% 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 in the last quarter. 10.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cloudflare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cloudflare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,407,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,389,167,000 after acquiring an additional 90,397 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cloudflare by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,018,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,044,000 after purchasing an additional 241,981 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cloudflare by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,019,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,377,000 after purchasing an additional 63,198 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Cloudflare by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,964,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,792,000 after buying an additional 49,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cloudflare in the 4th quarter worth about $718,316,000. 82.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

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.