CrowdStrike Scores Big With Gartner, But Valuation Is Stretched

Investors frequently hear that a company is different from its stock. That’s good to remember when processing a recent win for CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD). The cybersecurity company was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) for the 6th consecutive year.

Endpoint protection refers to the cybersecurity solutions at the edge. These solutions protect individual devices, including laptops, mobile phones, servers, and IoT hardware, from threats like malware, ransomware, and zero-day attacks. With the expansion of cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) architecture, endpoint protection is critical to preventing breaches.

Why CrowdStrike?

The company’s cloud-native Falcon platform stands out for its ability to deliver lightweight, AI-powered protection directly to devices without the need for legacy antivirus software. The benefits to users include:

• Real-time threat detection and response

• Faster deployment across large networks

• Better performance, especially in enterprise-scale environments

In naming CrowdStrike the winner, Gartner praised the company for its vision, execution, and continued innovation, including its expanding use of AI and machine learning to automate threat detection and reduce response times.

The Company Continues to Beat Expectations

In its first-quarter 2026 earnings report, CrowdStrike delivered its first quarter in which revenue topped the $1 billion mark. The company’s own projections suggest that the trend will continue.

Earnings per share (EPS) are also expected to be strong, but on a year-over-year (YOY) basis, this is where investors may have some concern. The company is in fine financial shape, but it’s priced for growth that may already be priced into the stock.

The wildcard will be the revenue CrowdStrike expects as the goodwill offerings it issued last year turn into realized revenue as customers decide to keep the modules. However, investors won’t learn about that until the company reports earnings on August 27, at the end of a month that is historically one of the slowest for the markets.

Is CRWD Stock Overbought?

CRWD stock is down over 4.4% in the last 30 days. For investors who are looking for a better entry point, it’s a good start. CrowdStrike is up nearly 50% from hitting its 2025 low in March. Cybersecurity is a critical part of the AI trade, and CrowdStrike’s bullish earnings report in May solidified the company’s position in the sector.

However, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 839.13x, the stock still trades at a significant premium to other tech stocks in general, and specifically to cybersecurity stocks. For example, Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW), which also features a platformization strategy, has a forward P/E of around 113x.

CrowdStrike is also trading slightly above its consensus price target of $461.17. That said, several analysts have raised their price target on the stock since the company’s earnings report in

The long-term trend lines continue to support a move higher, but a healthy pause can make the stock more attractive. In the short term, there may be some more selling. The stock has dropped below its 50-day simple moving average (SMA), a bearish sign supported by its MACD signal.

If CRWD moves below $450, the next level of support could be around $435 and below that, around $418. With the new price targets from several analysts, either of these targets could serve as solid entry points.

Why Investors Should Watch CrowdStrike’s August Earnings Closely

CrowdStrike’s repeated Gartner recognition reaffirms its leadership in endpoint security. This segment is becoming increasingly vital in a cloud- and AI-first world. However, the stock’s valuation and technical outlook suggest that near-term caution is advisable.

That doesn’t mean current shareholders should sell. But without a meaningful pullback, investors may want to wait for confirmation of post-August earnings momentum before adding or initiating positions.

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The article "CrowdStrike Scores Big With Gartner, But Valuation Is Stretched" first appeared on MarketBeat.