Deep Dive: CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) — Cybersecurity Momentum Leader

All figures, quotes and technical reads were pulled from CrowdStrike’s investor releases, SEC filings and public market-data providers at the time of writing. Verify live charts and filings before acting.


Short verdict (one line)

CrowdStrike is a high-growth cybersecurity platform with durable ARR expansion, improving margins and strong cash generation; fundamentals pass Profit Pencil’s growth/margin/leverage filters, momentum reads are mixed across providers and require a live check prior to execution. (ir.crowdstrike.com)


Quick facts (headline metrics)

  • Latest quarter (Q2 FY2026): Revenue $1.17B, +21% YoY. (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Ending ARR: $4.66B, +20% YoY; Net new ARR (Q2): $221M (record). (Investing.com)
  • Non-GAAP EPS (latest): $0.93 (beat). (Yahoo Finance)
  • Gross margin (subscription / reported): subscription/adjusted-gross margins ≈ mid-70s % on recent disclosures (company reports high subscription gross margin).
  • Debt / Equity: Low leverage; CrowdStrike’s balance sheet shows modest debt relative to equity (D/E well under 1). (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Market cap (approx.): large-cap cybersecurity name (market snapshots vary; see market pages). (MarketBeat)

1 — Why CrowdStrike matters right now (thesis)

CrowdStrike has transformed from an endpoint vendor into a cross-platform security suite (Falcon platform) that bundles endpoint protection, identity, SIEM/XDR and, increasingly, AI agents. Growth is driven by rising ARR, high retention and upsell of new modules (Identity, Security Ops, AI agents). The company is converting an installed base into higher-value subscription dollars while trimming incremental costs — producing record operating cash flow and improving non-GAAP profitability. Market reaction has been volatile around near-term guidance, but investor focus is shifting to ARR momentum and platform expansion. (ir.crowdstrike.com)


2 — Detailed fundamentals (latest quarter + TTM context)

Revenue & ARR

  • Total revenue: $1.17B in Q2 FY2026, +21% YoY; subscription revenue roughly $1.10B (≈ +20% YoY). (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Ending ARR: $4.66B, +20% YoY; net-new ARR in the quarter was $221M, showing solid instal-and-expand momentum. (Investing.com)

Profitability & cash

  • Non-GAAP operating income / net income expanded; non-GAAP net income was a record in the quarter and non-GAAP EPS $0.93 topped consensus. Free cash flow and operating cash flow were highlighted as record in the release. (Yahoo Finance)

Margins

  • CrowdStrike’s subscription-weighted gross margins are high (software/SaaS profile) and subscription economics drive high contribution margins; company filings and slides show sustained margin leverage versus smaller peers. (Investing.com)

Balance sheet & leverage

  • CrowdStrike maintains a conservative leverage profile; recent SEC filings and the investor deck show modest long-term debt relative to the equity base (D/E well under 1). Cash generation has improved, evidenced by record operating cash flow figures. (ir.crowdstrike.com)

Valuation multiples (market snapshot)

  • Consensus analyst targets and quoted multiples vary; TipRanks / MarketBeat show a range of market caps and forward P/Es depending on provider. Use live quote pages for exact P/E, P/S and EV metrics at trade time. (TipRanks)

3 — Momentum & technical snapshot (daily timeframe; provider variance noted)

Important: technical indicators differ across chart vendors. We list multiple provider reads and flag variance.

  • Price vs moving averages: 50-day SMA ≈ $444–445 and 200-day SMA ≈ $416–418; CRWD price was trading above both 50d and 200d in recent sessions (Barchart / TipRanks). (Barchart.com)
  • RSI (14-day): providers disagree — TipRanks ~65, Barchart/Chartmill show mid-60s to 77+ on recent reads (values fluctuate intraday). Net: RSI commonly sits in the mid-50s to mid-70s band depending on timestamp; confirm live. (TipRanks)
  • MACD (daily): several technical pages show MACD above the signal (bullish), but histograms indicate short-term oscillation — momentum is constructive but requires confirmation. (TradingView)
  • 1-month return vs Nasdaq: CRWD has outperformed the Nasdaq in multiple recent one-month windows (example: July surge); short windows can flip quickly — check live relative-strength. (Nasdaq)
  • Liquidity: 30-day average daily volume ≈ 3.1–3.9M shares (YCharts / Barchart); at trading prices this implies dollar volume well above $20M. (YCharts)

Takeaway: CrowdStrike typically meets the momentum rules (above 50/200 MA; RSI often inside Profit Pencil’s 55–70 band on many timestamps), but indicator values are time-sensitive and provider-dependent — confirm live before trading. (Barchart.com)


4 — Peer comparison (three closest public peers)

TickerRole / StrengthRevenue growth (latest)Gross margin (approx)LeverageNote
PANW (Palo Alto Networks)Enterprise security / wide product suitemid-20s % in recent quarters>60%D/E <1Strong network & firewall + cloud security; larger enterprise footprint.
ZS (Zscaler)Cloud-native security (SASE)mid-20s %~70%+lowPure-cloud posture; faster cloud adoption but smaller scale.
S (SentinelOne)Endpoint / competitor in agent spacehigh growth but lower margins historicallylower than CRWDlow/moderateYounger, more volatile; direct endpoint feature overlap. (example)

Interpretation: CrowdStrike sits between large incumbents (PANW) and cloud natives (ZS) — it combines strong ARR growth with high subscription margins and superior cash conversion vs younger peers. Analysts treat CRWD as a premium growth security-software name with better margin profile than most pure endpoint specialists. (Investing.com)


5 — The latest quarter: what moved the needle (Q2 FY2026 highlights)

  • Topline beat: Revenue $1.17B (+21% YoY) beat Street expectations. Subscription revenue and ARR growth were the focal points. (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Record cash flow: Company reported record operating cash flow / free cash flow metrics in the quarter, improving the cash-flow narrative vs earlier years. (Yahoo Finance)
  • Net-new ARR: $221M net new ARR highlighted as a record — management emphasized enterprise wins and attach rates for identity and security products. (Investing.com)
  • Guidance nuance: Near-term guidance for the next quarter landed slightly below some Street models (timing of deals and customer incentives cited), which explained the muted after-hours reaction despite the beat. (Seeking Alpha)

Management messaging & product roadmap: The company used its investor day / Fal.con event to articulate a multi-year ARR target (~$10B target by 2031) and introduced new AI agents (AgentWorks / Charlotte AI assistant) and acquisitions (Onum Security, Pangea Cyber) to accelerate identity & AI security capabilities. Management reiterated long-term TAM expansion and product cross-sell opportunities. (Investors)


6 — Main risk factors (condensed from CrowdStrike’s SEC filings and recent investor materials)

(Paraphrased; read the full 10-Q for precise legal language.) (ir.crowdstrike.com)

  1. Operational incidents / outages: A platform outage in 2024 forced customer remediation and incentive programs; repeat incidents can harm retention and increase costs. (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  2. Competitive pressure: Incumbents (PANW, Microsoft, Broadcom) and fast cloud natives compete on features and pricing; aggressive competition could pressure renewal rates and pricing.
  3. Customer concentration & large-deal timing: Enterprise deals are lumpy; timing differences in renewals / incentives can create near-term revenue volatility. (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  4. Regulatory & privacy risks: As identity and global security laws evolve, compliance and data-handling rules may increase costs. (SEC.gov)
  5. Integration & execution risk (M&A): Acquisitions can fail to integrate or deliver expected synergies (recent buys include Onum and Pangea). (Investors)

7 — Catalysts to watch (near term)

  • Seasonality / enterprise buying cycles: Quarter-end large deals and timing of multi-year renewals. (Seeking Alpha)
  • ARR acceleration proof points: continued high net-new ARR and higher dollar-based net retention. (Investing.com)
  • New AI agents & product monetization: commercial traction for AgentWorks / Charlotte and identity offerings. (Investors)
  • Operational stability: absence of fresh outage incidents and fewer customer incentive tailwinds. (ir.crowdstrike.com)

8 — What the data implies for traders and analysts (practical takeaways)

  • Fundamental checklist: CRWD clears Profit Pencil’s core fundamental filters — high revenue growth (>20%), improving EPS, strong subscription economics and low leverage. (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Momentum checklist: CRWD typically trades above its 50d and 200d MAs and often posts RSI inside the 55–70 band, but indicators are time-sensitive and vendor-dependent — validate on your chart provider at execution. (Barchart.com)
  • Risk adjustment: Outages and near-term guidance/timing can create short draws; use ARR trends and net new ARR as higher-quality leading indicators of durable revenue growth. (Investing.com)

9 — Bottom line (concise)

CrowdStrike is a platform-scale cybersecurity growth story with improving profitability and strong cash flow. The ARR trajectory and product expansion (identity, AI agents) position it well in a competitive TAM. Short-term price moves often react to guidance and timing of large deals — traders should verify momentum indicators in real time and monitor ARR cadence and operational stability as primary signals. (ir.crowdstrike.com)


Source vault (read these first)

  • CrowdStrike Q2 FY2026 press release and investor slides. (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Q2 FY2026 earnings call transcript / Seeking Alpha summary. (Seeking Alpha)
  • CrowdStrike SEC filings (10-Q and 10-K pages for risk factors). (ir.crowdstrike.com)
  • Market data & technical snapshots: TradingView, Barchart, TipRanks, YCharts. (TradingView)
  • Recent market coverage and investor-day reporting (IBD, Investor’s Business Daily; market news). (Investors)