The cybersecurity giant posted record cash flow & strong AI-driven growth in its fiscal 1st quarter
CrowdStrike had a lot to say Today, and not all of it landed the same way with investors.
The Austin-based cybersecurity company reported first quarter fiscal 2027 results that beat analyst expectations on earnings and revenue, announced a four-for-one stock split, and raised its full-year guidance. Despite all of that, shares slipped in after-hours trading after the company’s second-quarter revenue outlook came in just close enough to Wall Street estimates to disappoint investors who had pushed the stock up nearly 40% so far this year.
What the numbers showed
Total revenue for the quarter ending April 30 came in at $1.39 billion, up 26% from $1.10 billion in the same period a year earlier and slightly ahead of what analysts had projected. Adjusted earnings per share reached $1.10, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by 3%.
Annual recurring revenue grew 24% on an annual basis to $5.51 billion, with $255.8 million in net new ARR added during the quarter, a record for a first quarter period. Free cash flow also hit a quarterly record at $468.5 million, up significantly from $279.4 million in the same quarter last year. Operating cash flow reached $590.9 million, another record for the period.
Net income attributable to CrowdStrike on a GAAP basis came in at $27.8 million, compared to a loss of $104.3 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting meaningful improvement in the company’s path toward profitability.
AI demand drives the growth story
The clearest driver of CrowdStrike’s momentum was AI-related demand. The company reported that AI revenue more than doubled on an annual basis in the quarter, reaching $10.8 billion, fueled by sales of custom AI chips and the networking infrastructure required to connect them. For the current quarter, the company projected AI revenue would triple to $16 billion, a figure that underscored how central AI has become to CrowdStrike’s business model.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz framed the quarter as an inflection point, describing the current moment as one where cybersecurity and frontier AI are colliding in ways that position the company as critical infrastructure for businesses adopting AI at scale. The company has forged partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic through its Project QuiltWorks coalition, and was named a launch partner in both Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and OpenAI’s Trusted Access for Cyber program.
Platform adoption continued to deepen among existing customers. More than half of CrowdStrike’s subscription customers now use six or more modules on the Falcon platform, and 35% use seven or more, reflecting the company’s ability to expand within its existing base rather than relying solely on new customer acquisition.
The stock split and what it means
CrowdStrike’s board approved a four-for-one stock split, structured as a stock dividend. Shareholders on record as of June 25 will receive three additional shares for every share they hold, with the new shares distributed after the close of business on July 1. Trading on a split-adjusted basis is expected to begin July 2.
Stock splits do not change the underlying value of a company, but they tend to make shares more accessible to a broader range of investors by lowering the per-share price. CrowdStrike shares have multiplied nearly ninefold since the end of 2022, when the generative AI wave began reshaping investor appetite for technology stocks.
Where the stock stumbled
Despite the strong quarter, the company’s second-quarter revenue guidance gave investors pause. CrowdStrike projected revenue of between $1.436 billion and $1.442 billion for the current quarter, a range that analysts said barely cleared the bar that had been set by market expectations. For a stock trading near record highs, barely meeting expectations is often read as falling short.
Full-year revenue guidance was raised modestly to a midpoint of roughly $5.94 billion, up from the prior estimate of $5.90 billion. Full-year net new ARR growth guidance was raised by 520 basis points at the midpoint to 27.7%, an acceleration over the prior fiscal year that management said reflected strong pipeline momentum heading into the second half of the year.
CrowdStrike ended the quarter with $4.55 billion in cash and cash equivalents, giving it significant flexibility as it continues to invest in AI-driven security products and expand its platform globally.