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Cloudflare Stock Surges After Hours on Results Beat

Cloudflare's third-quarter revenue and fourth-quarter guidance both beat analyst consensus, sending the shares sharply higher after hours and wiping out the 8.3% fall they suffered earlier on Thursday.

Cloudflare (NET) shares jumped more than 18% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported third-quarter revenue well above analyst forecasts. It also guided the fourth quarter far above consensus.

The stock had closed Thursday’s session down 8.3% at $244.51, before the results arrived at 4:15pm Eastern (9:15pm UK time), on a day when US indices also fell sharply: the Nasdaq was down 5.52% and the S&P 500 down 4.36%. In after-hours trading the shares were up over 18.6% at about $290.

NET.US
Line chart of Cloudflare's share price over the past three months, trending higher into October before a sharp drop on 5 November 2026, the session before its Q3 results.
Cloudflare shares over the three months to the 5th of November 2026, before the results were released.

Revenue for the quarter to the 30th of September was $782.5m, up 39% from $562.0m a year earlier. The analyst average was $739.74m from 28 analysts, with the highest estimate at $774.19m, so the result beat consensus by 5.8%, or $42.8m. Non-GAAP earnings per share were $0.38, against $0.34 expected and $0.27 a year ago.

Guidance was the bigger gap. Cloudflare forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $845.0m to $846.0m, about 5.9% above the $798.16m consensus at its midpoint and above the highest estimate of $836.61m. Its non-GAAP EPS forecast of $0.43 compares with $0.38 expected.

For the full year it guided revenue of $2,963.0m to $2,964.0m, about 3% above the roughly $2.87bn consensus, and EPS of $1.35 against $1.26.

Profitability improved. Non-GAAP operating income, which excludes certain items, rose to $137.1m, a 17.5% margin, from $85.9m and 15.3%. Operating cash flow was $215.4m, up from $167.1m. On a GAAP basis the company made a net loss of $34.1m, or $0.10 a share.

Two measures slipped. Non-GAAP gross margin fell to 72.4% from 75.3%, and free cash flow of $82.1m was 10% of revenue, against $75.0m and 13% a year earlier.

“The third quarter was Cloudflare’s best quarter ever. We crossed $3 billion in annualized revenue with revenue of $782 million, up 39% year over year. We accelerated growth, delivering our fastest revenue growth in nearly four years, while expanding profitability.”

Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare

The conference call starts at 5pm Eastern; the gross margin decline is likely to draw questions.

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