CrowdStrike Stock (NASDAQ:CRWD) Doubles In 12 Months – Earnings Incoming

Holders of CrowdStrike shares (NASDAQ: CRWD) will be eagerly waiting for the earnings print tomorrow, 4th June, and looking for more upside surprises. With the last 4 quarters all beating expectations, the stock sits up 101.72% over the past 12 months. Off the back of recent trends, anything less than a beat will likely be poorly received by markets.

Leading in to earnings, markets are expecting Crowdstrike to deliver an EPS of $0.89, against revenues of $904 million. In the past week, we have seen a Google Cloud partnership boost sentiment, and price target upgrades from Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan both setting the bar higher for CRWD. With an upgrade from Morgan Stanley pushing out the target from $372 to $422, the firm sees a doubling for the firm over the next 4 to 5 years.

JP Morgan's own increase from $371 to $400 also pegs the expectation for the stock considerably above the current trading price a sharde under $310. Significant upside potential remains according to analysts, so let's take a look under the hood.

As the artificial intelligence (AI) industry continues to grow at a staggering pace, investors are keenly watching the market for stocks that leverage this transformative technology. The sales in the AI sector, spanning hardware, software, and services, are expected to escalate from $279 billion in 2024 to a remarkable $1.8 trillion by 2030. With an anticipated annual growth rate of 37% over the ensuing six years, companies adept at incorporating AI into their products and services are particularly well-positioned for growth.

One such standout is CrowdStrike, an innovator in endpoint security software that focuses on the application of AI to forestall cyberattacks. Since its IPO in June 2019, CrowdStrike's stock has soared by 503%, demonstrating a robust market confidence which is further bolstered by a doubling of its shares in just the past year. Unsurprisingly, 92% of Wall Street analysts deem CrowdStrike stock a ‘buy,' with the remaining 8% recommending a ‘hold'.

CrowdStrike has established itself as a swiftly expanding force in the cybersecurity realm. It has distinguished services in cloud security, identity threat detection, risk-based vulnerability management, and managed detection and response services. Recently, the company has unveiled Charlotte AI, a generative AI assistant conceived to support security teams in evaluating IT environments, pinpointing threats, and proactively reducing risk.

The fourth-quarter financial outcomes for CrowdStrike surpassed expectations, with the revenue surging to $845 million, and non-GAAP net income more than doubling year-over-year. Looking ahead, the company has provided guidance for first-quarter revenue and non-GAAP net income growth at impressive rates of 31% and 63%, respectively. The full-year outlook remains promising as well, with anticipated revenue and net income growth of up to 30% and 32%.

Analysts have noted that CrowdStrike's advantages are not merely technical; the company is also strategically positioned to benefit from the rising costs and sophistication of cyberattacks.

With projected sales growth of 29% annually over the next five years, CrowdStrike is poised to remain a dominant player in its industry. Furthermore, its current valuation of 27.9 times sales is considered reasonable by Wall Street standards, signalling that it may indeed be an attractive growth stock for patient investors looking to capitalise on the expansive future of AI and cybersecurity.

The financial outlook for CrowdStrike looks remarkably promising due to its assertive stance on AI and cybersecurity, a dedicated growth strategy, and strong market confidence. With an industry on the brink of a robust expansion and CrowdStrike's increasing market share, the stock appears to be an enticing option for investors wishing to forge into the AI-enhanced cyber tech landscape.