Crowdsrike stock earned an upgrade to "buy," as well as a price-target hike to $300
Cybersecurity name Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) is attracting some analyst attention this morning. The security earned an upgrade from Stifel to "buy" from "hold" earlier, as well as a price-target hike to $300 from $240. The analyst in question highlighted a "significant runway" for customer acquisition opportunities, after a survey showed increased demand. Additionally, Crowdstrike's Falcon platform could send the security towards the top of its 77-81% gross subscription margin target sooner rather than later. At last check, shares were up 2.5% at $243.54.
Just last week, Crowdstrike stock came within chip shot of its Feb. 15, record high of $251.28. Shares have since cooled off from that rally, though they still have the support of the 20-day moving average, which the equity regained back in May after a period of volatility. Longer term, CRWD still sports an impressive 135.1% year-over-year lead.
Analysts were bullish towards the equity coming into today, with 17 of the 20 in coverage carrying a "buy" or better rating, while three said "hold." Shares could soon benefit from a short squeeze, too. Short interest rose 7.7% over the last two reporting periods, and the 12.90 million shares sold short make up 6.6% of the stock's available float. Should some of that pessimism begin to unwind, the security may go higher still.
Meanwhile, calls are all the rage in the options pits. This is per Crowdstrike stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.90 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits in the 92nd percentile of its annual range. This indicates calls are being picked up at a faster-than-usual rate.
Lastly, CRWD's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) ranks at 93 out of 100. This is great news for options buyers, as it implies the stock usually outperforms these volatility expectations.