CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD) Stock Price & How to Invest

CrowdStrike is a leading cloud-native cybersecurity company best known for endpoint protection: software that secures laptops, servers, cloud workloads, and other devices against malware, ransomware, and intrusions. Its Falcon platform uses a single lightweight agent and a cloud-delivered model that collects vast amounts of threat telemetry, applies AI and machine learning to detect attacks, and lets customers add modules across many security categories. Beyond endpoint, CrowdStrike has expanded into cloud security, identity protection, threat intelligence, security operations and log management (Next-Gen SIEM after acquiring Humio/LogScale), exposure management, and managed detection and response. It makes money primarily through recurring subscriptions, with customers often adopting more Falcon modules over time, driving strong net revenue retention. CrowdStrike is one of the fastest-growing large cybersecurity vendors and a platform-consolidation play, helping enterprises replace multiple point tools. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and serves enterprises and governments worldwide.

Growth re-accelerated through 2026. Quarterly revenue growth, which had slowed to about 20% in early 2025, climbed back to about 26% by the fiscal second quarter of 2027 (ended July 31, 2026), when revenue reached about $1.47 billion, ending ARR hit about $5.84 billion, and net new ARR was a record $333 million, up 51% year over year. Adjusted EPS of $0.31 beat the roughly $0.29 consensus. CFO Burt Podbere raised the full-year net new ARR growth forecast to about 34% from 22.5%, and at a September investor briefing the company pulled forward its long-range goals to $10 billion of ARR within fiscal 2030 and $20 billion within fiscal 2035. At its Fal.Con conference in September it launched Guardian, a product for securing AI agents, and on September 25 Bloomberg reported that the US Justice Department had closed an investigation of CrowdStrike deals. Over the last twelve months revenue was about $5.4 billion and free cash flow about $2 billion, while GAAP results stayed near breakeven (fiscal 2026, ended January 2026, showed a net loss of about $163 million). The stock rose about 160% from mid-April lows near $100 to a record above $280, closing near $227.38 on October 16, 2026 (split-adjusted), for a market value of about $233 billion. The next report is scheduled for December 1, 2026.

CrowdStrike trades at a very high valuation that prices in sustained rapid growth, leaving little room for disappointment: after doubling in 2026 it trades at about 43x trailing sales and about 141x forward earnings, and the stock pulled back from record highs in mid-October as software stocks cooled. The July 2024 faulty software update that triggered a massive global IT outage damaged trust, prompted customer commitment packages and incentives that pressured near-term metrics, and raised litigation and reputational risk; rebuilding full confidence takes time. Competition is fierce from Microsoft (Defender, bundled with its broad suite), Palo Alto Networks, SentinelOne, Zscaler, and others, and Microsoft's bundling can pressure pricing. A slowdown in IT and security spending, execution missteps, or any major security failure could compress the multiple sharply. Stock-based compensation keeps GAAP earnings near zero, and rich expectations are an ongoing concern.

50 analysts publish price targets on CRWD, averaging $246.15 against a $227.39 price as of October 2026, or +8.3%. The published targets run from $132.00 to $325.00, a wide spread, and the ratings split 40 buy, 12 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 11 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full CRWD forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Platform consolidation and module land-and-expand. CrowdStrike's Falcon platform lets customers start with endpoint and add modules across cloud, identity, SIEM, and more from a single agent and console. The most optimistic published target, $325.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. CrowdStrike trades at a very high valuation that prices in sustained rapid growth, leaving little room for disappointment: after doubling in 2026 it trades at about 43x trailing sales and about 141x forward earnings, and the stock pulled back from record highs in mid-October as software stocks cooled. The most pessimistic target, $132.00, is roughly what CRWD is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on CRWD, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Yes. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD) has had one share split in the last 10 years:

• 4:1 on July 2, 2026, so every share held became 4 shares.

A split changes the share count and the price per share and leaves the value of a holding unchanged. Someone holding $1,000 of CRWD the day before the 4:1 split held $1,000 the day after, in more shares at a proportionally lower price. Historical prices from before the date are normally shown split-adjusted, which is why a long-run chart shows no cliff.

Splits matter mainly because they make older price figures confusing to compare by hand, and because a board choosing to split is usually signalling that the price has run up far enough to feel awkward for smaller buyers. Neither is a reason to buy or sell.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$5.4 billion; FQ2 2027 ~$1.47 billion (up ~26% YoY)
• Annual recurring revenue (ARR): ~$5.84 billion; record net new ARR ~$333 million (up ~51% YoY)
• EPS: FQ2 2027 adjusted $0.31 vs ~$0.29 consensus; GAAP near breakeven (TTM net income ~$45 million)
• Free cash flow: ~$2 billion (TTM)
• Valuation: ~43x trailing sales, ~141x forward earnings
• Market cap: ~$233 billion at ~$227 per share (split-adjusted)
• Balance sheet: ~$5.0 billion cash vs ~$0.8 billion debt
• Dividend: none; reinvests for growth

CrowdStrike trades at one of the richest valuations in large-cap software, about 43x trailing revenue in mid-October 2026 versus roughly 28x a year earlier, after the stock doubled on re-accelerating growth and a raised ARR outlook. The premium embeds expectations of years of sustained expansion toward the $10 billion ARR goal. Analysts rate it a buy with an average target near $246, only modestly above the current price, so the valuation remains the key debate.

If you want CRWD exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

These are the investment theses CRWD naturally fits into. Each links to a full theme guide listing every other stock that belongs and the ETFs commonly used as a passive proxy.

Other names that sit close to CRWD: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get CRWD exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (RSP, IGV, CIBR), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so CRWD sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where CRWD fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

CrowdStrike (CRWD) compounds through a land-and-expand module model and an AI-and-data detection flywheel, riding structural cybersecurity spending growth; ending ARR reached about $5.84 billion in mid-2026, and management now targets $10 billion within fiscal 2030. In a portfolio it behaves as a volatile, richly valued growth holding (about 43x trailing sales after doubling in 2026) with little tolerance for stumbles, competing with Microsoft Defender, Palo Alto Networks, and SentinelOne, and still carrying trust and litigation echoes from the 2024 Falcon outage.

Whether CRWD is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is CRWD a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the CRWD stock forecast.

For income investors, whether CRWD pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does CRWD pay a dividend? And to weigh CRWD against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: CRWD vs PANW and CRWD vs ZS.