By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) are down almost 5% in premarket trading despite topping consensus estimates for Q1 earnings and revenue.
CRWD reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 31c, compared to 10c in the same period last year and above the consensus estimates of 23c per share. Revenue stood at $487.8 million in the first quarter, up 61% YoY and topping the analyst consensus of $463.9 million. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) came in at $1.92 billion, slightly above the analyst expectations of $1.9 billion.
Looking ahead, CrowdStrike expects Q2 adjusted EPS in the range of 27c to 28c, also above the estimates of 23c per share. CRWD anticipates Q2 revenue in the range of $512.7 million to $516.8 million, while analysts were looking for $509.2 million.
On a full-year basis, the company expects FY2023 adjusted EPS in the range of $1.18 to $1.22, up from the previous forecast of $1.03 to $1.13, beating the expectations of $1.10 per share. FY revenue is expected to land between $2.19 billion and $2.21 billion, up from $2.13 billion to $2.16 billion, while analysts were projecting $2.15 billion.
Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens reiterated an Overweight rating on CRWD stock as he remains firmly bullish on the fundamentals.
“While we note a ~$22M ARR beat on the street number is a smaller magnitude beat compared to recent quarters, we view the solid growth and margin dynamics at near $2B scale as impressive. We expect CRWD to continue to consolidate share across endpoint and adjacent security markets, and remain buyers on recent weakness,” the analyst wrote in a client note.
Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz echoed Owens’ thoughts and added that the cybersecurity company remains “very well positioned.”
“We believe CRWD’s cloud platform remains highly differentiated, and we remain confident the co. can very successfully extend beyond traditional endpoint security markets. We also continue to believe that strong ongoing execution can propel the shares much higher over time,” Moskowitz said in a note to clients.