New York, Feb 26, 2026, 19:10 EST — After-hours
- CRWD climbed after launching a new identity product and striking fresh AI-security partnerships.
- Analysts trimmed their price targets, saying the AI-fueled selloff battering security software stocks has probably gone too far.
- Attention turns to March 3 results, with eyes on signals for subscription growth.
CrowdStrike Holdings shares rallied 4.9% to finish at $381.09 on Thursday, rebounding after a tough run for the higher-valuation cybersecurity stocks.
The rebound is important here: investors are weighing if emerging AI coding tools pose an actual risk to the big security platforms, or if this is just another story triggering a shift in valuations. CrowdStrike’s earnings, due next week, will be the next key test.
Brian Essex at JPMorgan dropped his CrowdStrike price target to $472 from $582 but left his Overweight call unchanged. Friday’s tumble in security-software stocks on the heels of Anthropic’s Claude Code Security rollout, Essex said, “appears overdone” when it comes to platform players like CrowdStrike. He’s still looking for a solid quarter, noting strong demand indicators and Falcon Flex momentum. TipRanks
CrowdStrike stirred things up Thursday, rolling out FalconID—a multi-factor authentication, or MFA, product that tacks on an extra login step, aiming to blunt the damage from stolen passwords. Chief technology officer Elia Zaitsev didn’t mince words, calling standard MFA “architecturally broken” and arguing it fails to tap into live risk signals. CrowdStrike
The company rolled out news of a partnership with VAST Data just a day ago, aiming to lock down the so-called AI lifecycle by tying telemetry from VAST’s AI operating system directly into CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform. VAST’s founder and CEO Renen Hallak described the company as the “operating system for AI”; this agreement, he said, pushes continuous threat detection deeper into AI workflows. CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike picked up some fresh product momentum via its partners. Commvault announced it’s deepening its integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM, a platform designed to collect and analyze security event logs. The update: bi-directional visibility, which, according to Commvault, should let teams check backup integrity before deciding to recover. The company noted that the integration is now live on the CrowdStrike Marketplace, with no extra fees.
CrowdStrike has set March 18 for its Fal.Con Gov 2026 conference in Washington. Among the lineup: White House National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross plus top brass from both CISA and the Defense Department. “Defending the nation requires real-time intelligence,” President Michael Sentonas said in the release. CrowdStrike
DA Davidson’s Rudy Kessinger cut his price target to $425 from $580 but held onto his Buy call. The firm is looking for net new ARR — annual recurring revenue, a core subscription metric — to land somewhere between $315 million and $320 million for the quarter. That’s a notch above consensus at roughly $301 million, though Kessinger still sees the stock as pricey.
The risk remains front and center for the stock. Software names are taking hits whenever valuations run hot, and a slip-up in guidance could reignite talk about AI-native security features eroding pricing strength. CrowdStrike shares have dropped roughly 22.5% this year, according to Investing.com.
Traders zero in on a few things in the earnings: ARR growth, net new ARR, and if management’s still driving margin expansion without losing focus on the platform narrative. Look for comments on Falcon Flex, appetite for identity security, and whether AI coding security tools are really shifting the needle — those could all sway the stock.
CrowdStrike has its fourth-quarter and full-year results lined up for release after the U.S. market wraps on Tuesday, March 3. The company’s conference call is booked for 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
