CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. issued a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast, disappointing investors who have been watching for signs that the cybersecurity company has recovered from a flawed update that crashed computers around the world.
Adjusted earnings will be 84 cents to 86 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter, CrowdStrike said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts were expecting 87 cents, according to Bloomberg-compiled estimates.
Shares of CrowdStrike fell about 5% in extended trading after the results were announced.
The report is the company’s second since a flawed CrowdStrike update crashed millions of devices operating on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows systems. The outage, which unfolded on July 19, disrupted a wide range of industries, including air travel, banks and health care. The company posted sales three months ago that beat expectations, a sign that investors took to mean the global IT outage wouldn’t significantly affect its finances.
Third-quarter revenue represented a bright spot in Tuesday’s report. Sales for the period came to $1.01 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations. Profit, excluding some items, was 93 cents a share, compared with the average estimate of 81 cents.
CrowdStrike also raised its guidance for revenue for the full fiscal year, to $3.92 billion to $3.93 billion. Analysts were expecting $3.9 billion.
The company also surpassed $4 billion in ending annual recurring revenue as of Oct. 31, making CrowdStrike “the fastest and only pure play cybersecurity software company to reach this reported milestone,” Chief Executive Officer George Kurtz said in the statement.
Delta Airlines’ operations were stunted for days as a result of the outage, costing the airline at least $500 million in out-of-pocket losses, according to a lawsuit it filed against CrowdStrike in October. CrowdStrike said Delta was shifting blame “from its failure to update its antiquated IT infrastructure,” in a statement at the time.
“Following this summer’s incident as a company we were tested,” Kurtz said, in a call with investors on Tuesday. “We responded with speed, care and resolve and we focused on becoming even better.”
Photo: Photographer: Benjamin Fanjoy/Bloomberg
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