CrowdStrike Draws Caution From Wall Street Over Growth Outlook, But Retail Goes Contrarian

Canaccord stated that while net-new annual recurring revenue (ARR) jumped to $221 million from $194 million in the previous quarter, overall ARR and subscription revenue growth continued to decelerate year-on-year.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD) has garnered a cautious outlook from Wall Street analysts, despite stronger-than-expected second-quarter (Q2) earnings, due to tempered expectations for the back half of the year.

The cybersecurity provider reported Q2 revenue of $1.17 billion and an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.93, both of which exceeded the analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 billion and $0.83, respectively, according to Fiscal AI data. For FY2026, the company expects revenue to be between $4.749 billion and $4.805 billion, compared to an estimated $4.77 billion.

CrowdStrike stock traded over 3% lower in Thursday’s premarket. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the stock remained in ‘extremely bullish’ territory while message volume shifted to ‘extremely high’ from ‘normal’ levels in 24 hours.

CRWD’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 06:50 a.m. ET on Aug.28, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits

The stock experienced a 1,717% increase in user message count over 24 hours. A bullish Stocktwits user expressed optimism about the earnings.

Canaccord dropped its price target to $430 from $475, stating that while net-new annual recurring revenue (ARR) jumped to $221 million from $194 million in the previous quarter, overall ARR and subscription revenue growth continued to decelerate year-on-year. Achieving further growth could be challenging, the firm said.

Bernstein trimmed its target to $343 from $371 and maintained a ‘Market Perform’ rating. The firm pointed to a dip in subscription revenue growth to 20.1% YoY, an impact it said is tied to a service outage last July. 

The firm noted that while CrowdStrike outperformed its revenue guide by $21 million, the company only nudged up its full-year forecast by $3 million, suggesting a softening in subscription growth expectations for the remainder of the year.

Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo reduced his target to $500 from $530, maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating. CrowdStrike stock has gained over 23% in 2025 and over 59% in the last 12 months. 

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