What happened
Shares of cybersecurity powerhouse CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD -2.58%) are up a strong 5.8% as of 11:20 a.m. EDT. Curiously, this jump in share price doesn't come because of strong earnings -- but rather before earnings have even been released. So why did it happen?
Heading into earnings, which are expected to come out Wednesday, analysts at investment banks Barclays Capital and RBC Capital both raised their price targets on CrowdStrike.
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So what
First, RBC Capital raised its price target on CrowdStrike Friday to $120. Then this morning Barclays seconded that emotion -- with a hike to $130 a share.
In Friday's announcement, RBC predicted CrowdStrike would report "strong" earnings for the second quarter of 2020, and similarly strong guidance for the future. Barclays today added that its previous prediction of $53 million in annual recurring revenue for CrowdStrike could prove conservative, noting that other bankers who follow the company are looking for as much as $70 million, $80 million, or even $85 million in ARR.
Now what
Turning to more familiar metrics, the consensus on the Street is that CrowdStrike will report revenue up 82% at $188.5 million, with a per-share loss shrinking from $0.18 a year ago to just a penny a share in this year's Q2.
On guidance, analysts will be looking for CrowdStrike to promise a $0.05-per-share loss on $195.8 million in revenue for the third quarter. If come Wednesday CrowdStrike promises anything better than that, it's a safe bet that you can expect this stock to keep going up.
