Share prices of CrowdStrike (CRWD +2.13%) surged a massive 158% in the past year. A check of the cybersecurity specialist's latest quarterly results suggests this red-hot rally is here to stay.
CrowdStrike released fiscal 2024 fourth-quarter results (for the three months ended Jan. 31, 2024) on March 5. It showed that analyst expectations were exceeded and investors were pleased. The stock soared a further 10% the following day.
Let's take a closer look at CrowdStrike's latest report to see why this cybersecurity stock could keep heading higher.
NASDAQ: CRWD
Key Data Points
CrowdStrike benefits from healthy cybersecurity demand
CrowdStrike reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $845 million, a solid jump of 33% year over year. Even better, the company's non-GAAP (adjusted) net income doubled year over year to $0.95 per share. Wall Street would have settled for $0.82 EPS from CrowdStrike on revenue of $839 million. The company topped expectations thanks to the robust adoption of its cybersecurity modules, which led to a nice jump in customer spending.
More specifically, the number of CrowdStrike customers using five or more of its modules last quarter stood at 64%, up slightly from last year's 62%. Meanwhile, 43% of its customers were using six or more modules, while 27% were using seven or more solutions from the company. Those numbers compare favorably to the year-ago period as well.
The stronger adoption of CrowdStrike's cybersecurity offerings also explains why the company's dollar-based net retention rate stayed consistent in each quarter last fiscal year at around 120%. So, a reading of more than 100% means that CrowdStrike's existing customer base spent more on its offerings. As a result, the company ended the year with annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $3.44 billion, up 34% from the prior year. CrowdStrike points out that ARR is the annualized value of its subscription contracts at the end of a period. So, the impressive jump in this metric points toward a solid future revenue pipeline. For comparison, CrowdStrike's full-year revenue was up 36% to $3.06 billion. So, the ARR at the end of the fiscal year indicates that CrowdStrike is set up for another solid year of growth.
This also explains why the company's fiscal 2025 guidance exceeded expectations. The company expects to finish the year with $3.96 billion in revenue at the midpoint of its guidance range, which would be a 30% increase over fiscal 2024. Consensus estimates were forecasting $3.94 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue from CrowdStrike. What's more, the company expects adjusted earnings to increase to $3.87 per share in fiscal 2025 at the midpoint, which would be a 25% increase year over year.
It won't be surprising to see CrowdStrike ending the year with a stronger performance. After all, the company was originally expecting its fiscal 2024 earnings to land at $2.30 per share on revenue of $2.98 billion. It eventually ended the year with a stronger top- and bottom-line performance thanks to the growing adoption of its cybersecurity solutions. A similar story could unfold this year as well, especially considering the demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cybersecurity tools.
Generative AI could drive stronger-than-expected growth
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz pointed out on the company's latest earnings conference call that cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated, with generative AI turning out to be "an adversary force multiplier." He remarked:
What took adversaries hours has shrunk to minutes and seconds. Attack speeds will only accelerate. Second, the cloud is increasingly under attack. We tracked a 75% increase in cloud intrusion attempts.
Kurtz is confident that more customers are likely to turn toward CrowdStrike's platform to shore up their cyber defenses, especially because its customers are reportedly getting $6 worth of return for each dollar they spend on the company's Falcon platform. The company claims that its Falcon cybersecurity platform is capable of delivering super protection while lowering the cost of operation for its customers.
More importantly, CrowdStrike's focus on integrating AI-powered tools into its Falcon platform is helping it win market share, as management claimed on the latest call. Given that the AI-focused cybersecurity market is currently in its early phases of growth and may generate $133 billion in revenue through 2030, CrowdStrike has a massive opportunity ahead that could help supercharge its growth in the long run.
Not surprisingly, analysts are forecasting its earnings to increase at an annual rate of 42% for the next five years. If that's indeed the case, then its earnings could jump to $17.84 per share after five years, using fiscal 2024's earnings of $3.09 per share as the base. Multiplying the projected earnings after five years with Nasdaq-100's forward earnings multiple of 30 (using the index as a proxy for tech stocks) points toward a stock price of $535.
That would be a 60% increase from current levels, which is why investors should consider buying it right away before it soars higher.
