Cloudflare Stock Jumps 15% as Earnings Beat Estimates, 2026 Outlook Raised

Cloudflare shares surged in after-hours trading Thursday after the cloud connectivity and cybersecurity company delivered stronger-than-expected quarterly results, issued upbeat third-quarter guidance and raised its full-year 2026 forecast.

Class A shares of Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) initially jumped about 15% following the earnings announcement, extending an impressive run for the internet infrastructure provider. Cloudflare stock has gained 44.1% year to date, significantly outperforming the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, which has fallen 5.9% over the same period.

Cloudflare reported adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share on quarterly revenue of $696.06 million. Both figures exceeded Wall Street expectations, with analysts forecasting adjusted earnings of $0.27 per share and revenue of $664.67 million.

The company also provided a stronger outlook for the third quarter. Cloudflare expects adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share and revenue between $736 million and $737 million. Analysts had projected earnings of $0.32 per share on revenue of approximately $722.60 million.

For full-year 2026, Cloudflare increased its adjusted earnings forecast to $1.25-$1.26 per share, up from its previous range of $1.19-$1.20. Revenue is now expected to reach between $2.864 billion and $2.870 billion, compared with the earlier forecast of $2.805 billion to $2.813 billion.

Cloudflare operates one of the internet's largest networks, providing content delivery, website performance and cybersecurity services, including protection against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The company says its infrastructure handles an average of 102 million HTTP requests per second across millions of websites.

Artificial intelligence has also become an increasingly important part of Cloudflare's growth strategy. The company provides infrastructure for scaling AI applications and developing AI agents as demand for agentic AI technology accelerates.

CEO Matthew Prince said the shift toward AI answer engines, automated agents and machine-to-machine internet activity is fundamentally changing how online infrastructure operates. Cloudflare aims to capitalize on that transition through infrastructure, security controls, developer tools and payment technologies designed for what the company calls the "Agentic Internet."

The strong Cloudflare earnings report stands out as broader U.S. software stocks face concerns that rapid AI adoption could disrupt traditional software services.