CrowdStrike Shares Drop After Earnings Guidance Misses Expectations

The cybersecurity firm's forecast for Q1 and full-year earnings fell short of analyst estimates, despite strong revenue growth.

CrowdStrike reported Q4 revenue of $1.06 billion, a 25% increase year-over-year, surpassing analyst estimates of $1.03 billion.
The company issued Q1 earnings-per-share guidance of $0.64 to $0.66, significantly below the consensus estimate of $0.96.
Full-year earnings guidance of $3.33 to $3.45 per share also fell short of the $4.42 expected by analysts, contributing to a 6-9% drop in after-hours trading.
Operating expenses grew 33% year-over-year, outpacing revenue growth and totaling nearly $3.1 billion.
The company continues to recover from a major July 2024 IT outage, which cost $60 million in damages and led to ongoing investigations by the DOJ and SEC.