CrowdStrike Stock (CRWD): JPMorgan, D.A. Davidson Stay Bullish Ahead of Q4 Earnings, But Lower Price Targets

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings CRWD +4.90% ▲ is scheduled to announce results for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2026 on March 3. CRWD stock has declined 19% year-to-date amid concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) disrupting the cybersecurity sector, as AI startup Anthropic added a new security tool to its Claude model. Nonetheless, JPMorgan and D.A. Davidson reiterated Buy ratings on CrowdStrike stock but lowered their price targets. Let’s discuss their views on the cybersecurity stock.

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Interestingly, CrowdStrike stock rose 4.9% on Thursday after Nvidia NVDA -5.46% ▼ CEO Jensen Huang dismissed fears that AI agents would cannibalize the enterprise software industry.

Wall Street expects CrowdStrike to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.10 for Q4 FY26, reflecting about 7% year-over-year growth. Revenue is projected to rise 22.6% to $1.30 billion.

D.A. Davidson Reaffirms Buy Rating on CRWD Stock

D.A. Davidson analyst Rudy Kessinger reiterated a Buy rating on CrowdStrike stock but lowered the price target to $425 from $580. The 4-star analyst contends that the selloff in CRWD stock since the news of Claude Code Security seems overdone, as he doesn’t expect native security tools from Anthropic and other AI firms to negatively impact the company’s business in “any meaningful way.”

While Kessinger agrees that CRWD stock’s valuation remains relatively expensive, he continues to see upside to numbers and believes that CrowdStrike remains well-positioned to gain from continued vendor consolidation in the cybersecurity space.

Meanwhile, Kessinger expects CrowdStrike to deliver a solid beat for Q4 FY26, with channel feedback indicating a notable sequential improvement in the top line (highest since the pre-July 2024 outage) and signs of robust Flex momentum. He expects annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth to reaccelerate to about 23.5% year-over-year from 22.5% in Q3 FY26. “While we are certain much of the call will be about securing AI, we do not believe it is likely to materially impact numbers in the qtr. or guide just yet,” said Kessinger.

JPMorgan Expects CRWD to Report “Healthy” Q4 Results

JPMorgan analyst Brian Essex reiterated a Buy rating on CrowdStrike stock but lowered the price target to $472 from $582 to reflect compression in peer multiples. The analyst expects CrowdStrike to report “healthy” Q4 FY26 results, backed by a strong pipeline and continued Falcon Flex traction, which should fuel sequential growth in net new annual recurring revenue (NNARR) heading into Fiscal 2027.

Essex noted continued platform momentum and expects further operating margin expansion as the company moves beyond outage-related expenses and benefits from platform scale. He views management’s Fiscal 2027 expectation of over 20% NNARR growth and 24% operating margin as achievable, given consolidation tailwinds and Flex adoption.

Like Kessinger, Essex also believes that the recent selloff in security software stocks following Anthropic’s Claude Code Security announcement seems overdone. He doesn’t see it as a threat to platform vendors like CrowdStrike, as “code vulnerability scanning competes with static analysis tools rather than CRWD’s runtime detection and response capabilities.” Essex contends that while CRWD stock looks expensive relative to peers, consensus estimates reflect conservatism.

What Is the Price Target for CRWD Stock?

Ahead of Q4 FY26 earnings, Wall Street has a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CrowdStrike Holdings stock based on 24 Buys and 11 Holds. The average CRWD stock price target of $530.81 indicates 39.3% upside potential.

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