Earnings Preview: CrowdStrike (CRWD) likely to report mixed results for Q2 2026

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) had a mixed start to fiscal 2026, reporting higher first-quarter revenue and lower earnings. The company is ramping up investments in its AI-native Falcon platform and enterprise-wide automation to drive accelerated growth through FY26 and beyond.

Q2 Report Due

The Austin-headquartered tech firm is expected to publish second-quarter 2026 earnings on Wednesday, August 27, at 4:05 pm ET. Recently, the management said it expects Q2 revenue to be in the range of $1.145 billion to $1.152 billion, and adjusted earnings per share in the $0.82-0.84 range. At the mid-point of the guidance range, the outlook is broadly in line with analysts’ consensus estimates. In the year-ago quarter, the company earned $1.04 per share on revenues of $963.9 million.  

CrowdStrike’s stock reached a new high early last month, but has since pulled back and maintained a downtrend. This week, the shares traded well above their 12-month average price of $380.46. The value has grown more than 50% since last year. Despite the relatively higher valuation, the stock appears to be a good long-term investment.

Mixed Results

In the first three months of FY26, CrowdStrike’s revenue increased 20% annually to $1.10 billion. Subscription and Professional Services revenues grew 20% and 8% respectively. The top line matched analysts’ consensus estimates. Meanwhile, Q1 earnings, excluding special items, declined 8% YoY to $0.73 per share. Interestingly, CrowdStrike’s quarterly earnings have consistently beaten estimates in the past five years, including in the first quarter. On a reported basis, it was a net loss of $110.2 million or $0.44 per share in the April quarter, compared to a profit of $42.8 million or $0.17 per share in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025.

“While we see a massive opportunity to protect AI agents, our use of AgenTik AI is already transforming the SOC. Charlotte AI is our AgenTik security analyst, completing tasks, making decisions to supercharge human SOC personnel. With the launch of Charlotte AI’s expanded detection triage, customers now have access to an agentic SOC analyst delivering autonomous expert-level triage, reasoning, and response at machine speed, flattening the hiring curve, saving time, and delivering even better security outcomes,” CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, said in the Q1 2026 earnings call.

Outlook

For fiscal 2026, the management forecasts revenues in the range of $4.744 billion to $4.806 billion. The guidance for full-year adjusted earnings per share is between $3.44 and $3.56. The company follows an AI strategy focused on addressing emerging AI-related cyber threats using advanced machine learning, threat intelligence, and real-time user behavioral analysis.

CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform, a cloud-native AI-powered cybersecurity system designed for endpoint protection and threat detection, is witnessing strong adoption, underscoring the high demand for consolidated cybersecurity solutions. There has been a significant increase in annual recurring revenue in recent quarters, a trend expected to persist given the consistent growth in its subscription base.

On Tuesday, CRWD traded lower in the early hours of the session, after opening slightly higher. The stock has lost about 12% in the past 30 days.