What happened
The stock market was having a strong day on Thursday, after a rough stretch over the prior week or so. All three major averages were in the green shortly after the market opened. However, cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD +0.74%) was a big outperformer. At 10 a.m. EST, shares were up by 4% on the day, after rising nearly 6% earlier in the session.
So what
Earnings season is over for the most part, but companies with irregular fiscal years (like CrowdStrike) are still reporting. The reason for today's move is positive results from CrowdStrike's third fiscal quarter, which ended on Oct. 31.
Image source: Getty Images.
For one thing, the company beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Revenue came in at $380 million against expectations of about $363.5 million, and adjusted earnings of $0.17 per share were 70% higher than analysts had been looking for. More importantly, its guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter came in higher than expected on both revenue and earnings as well.
CrowdStrike's annual recurring revenue climbed 67% year over year and is now at a rate of more than $1.5 billion. Gross margins remained very strong, and its free cash flow climbed by 62% compared with the same quarter last year.
Now what
In a nutshell, CrowdStrike's customer base and subscription revenue continue to grow rapidly, and if the company can keep its growth story alive, there could be more positive moves ahead. It's also interesting to point out that despite raising its growth expectations for the next quarter, CrowdStrike is still down by more than 30% from the highs, so if you believe the need for cloud-based cybersecurity solutions isn't going away anytime soon, now could be a smart time to take a closer look.
