• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’

2

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave

3

He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis

1

FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’

2

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave

3

He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis
FinanceCloud

On cloud nine: Why these cloud security stocks are soaring

Anne Sraders
By
Anne Sraders
Anne Sraders
Down Arrow Button Icon
Anne Sraders
By
Anne Sraders
Anne Sraders
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 3, 2020, 3:55 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

It’s a good day to be in the cloud.

Cloud and cybersecurity stocks like CrowdStrike, Okta, and Zscaler are soaring on Thursday after the trio reported booming earnings amid a pandemic that has accelerated businesses’ shift to the cloud and remote work.

On Thursday CrowdStrike was trading nearly 14% higher in afternoon trading, while Zscaler zoomed over 25% and Okta was up roughly 4% in afternoon trading. Snowflake was also on a tear Thursday, up over 12% in afternoon trading after reporting its first quarter since its IPO in September.

Revenues for Okta were up 42% from the previous year in the 3rd quarter, while CrowdStrike and Zscaler also beat earnings Wednesday, with revenues up 86% and 52% year-over-year, respectively. Snowflake reported revenues up 119% from the previous year.

For those like Wedbush Securities’s Dan Ives, the big earnings beats are “another seminal moment in this cloud transformation underway and put more fuel into this rally in cyber security names across the board,” Ives wrote in a note Thursday. He believes the “blowout earnings across the board from these three next generation software leaders that surprised even the biggest bulls given the strength … is another key data point speaking to the cloud and digital transformation that is still in the early days of playing out.”

As has been the big theme of 2020, Morningstar analyst Mark Cash notes the pandemic “hastened digital transformation efforts and the need to adopt zero-trust security practices, which benefits Zscaler,” and believes the company can top its forward earnings estimates, Cash wrote in a note Wednesday. Wedbush’s Ives, meanwhile, believes the company “looks to be in the drivers seat on the cloud cyber security shift over the next decade.”

Many on the Street argue the big cloud theme won’t just be booming in 2020. Analysts like Ives and Morningstar’s Cash believe names like Zscaler and CrowdStrike will continue to gain share, as Cash wrote in a Thursday note that “CrowdStrike’s customer base, revenue, and margins will experience profound growth throughout the 2020s as customers update their endpoint and workload security requirements in a hybrid-cloud world.” Okta, meanwhile, “continues to gain customers at a fast clip while also showcasing larger deal sizes and impressive upsell results,” Cash wrote in a Wednesday note.

And for cloud and cybersecurity stocks overall, Wedbush’s Ives estimates “with 33% of workloads currently on the cloud moving to 55% by 2022 based on our analysis, we believe the digital transformation shift to cloud for both enterprises and governments is being accelerated by up to 12 to 18 months,” with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) “leading the way.”

But that rush has certainly driven up premiums for many of the names in the space. Indeed, CrowdStrike, Zscaler, and Okta all currently trade at price-to-earnings multiples that register as “not meaningful” as they’re so high (All three companies, meanwhile, remain unprofitable). And the debate about a cloud and tech bubble in 2020 rages on. All three stocks are up at least 100% each this year.

But some analysts like Ives argue the “fundamental drivers and sweet spot of cloud demand continue to give us high conviction in owning the secular winners in the cyber security sector.” Pointing to the “robust” earnings from names like Zscaler and CrowdStrike, he argues “this cloud story is still in the early days of playing out and bodes well for cyber names heading into 2021.”

While investors may be on cloud nine following the strong earnings, they’d be well to remember their multiples are also sky-high.

About the Author
Anne Sraders
By Anne Sraders
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Kalshi pulls plug on planned flight cancellation contracts
BankingKalshi
Kalshi pulls plug on planned flight cancellation contracts
By Jeff John RobertsJuly 16, 2026
29 minutes ago
The global rich like Peter Thiel are eyeing the exit door. Argentina wants to be a ‘serious contender’ in the migration game
InvestingPeter Thiel
The global rich like Peter Thiel are eyeing the exit door. Argentina wants to be a ‘serious contender’ in the migration game
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 16, 2026
2 hours ago
Donald Trump looks at Xi Jinping and puts a hand on his arm.
Economysupply chains
Trump has tried to decouple from China, but ending U.S. reliance on the country would cost America nearly $14 trillion, EY warns
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 16, 2026
3 hours ago
lj
SuccessLeBron James
The $500 million LeBron James sweepstakes: 5 cities race for the right to boost their economy with the chosen one
By Joshua HongJuly 16, 2026
3 hours ago
Jamie Dimon surrounded by construction workers.
SuccessCareers
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says 300,000 workers are needed to rebuild American shipbuilding—with jobs paying $100,000 without a college degree
By Preston ForeJuly 16, 2026
4 hours ago
Europe optimized its supply chains for cost. Now it must pay for resilience  
Commentarysupply chains
Europe optimized its supply chains for cost. Now it must pay for resilience  
By Richard SaynorJuly 16, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
C-Suite
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
By Fortune EditorsJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
Law
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
By Barbara Ortutay, Alexandra Olson and The Associated PressJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis
Innovation
He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis
By Lily Mae LazarusJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
Newsletters
MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
By Sydney LakeJuly 14, 2026
2 days ago
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
Economy
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
By Eleanor PringleJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
Trump's 'American Flag Blue' in the Lincoln Memorial pool is already gray — and the Olympic canoer 'vandal' is fighting his arrest
Politics
Trump's 'American Flag Blue' in the Lincoln Memorial pool is already gray — and the Olympic canoer 'vandal' is fighting his arrest
By Matthew Daly and The Associated PressJuly 16, 2026
7 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.