Remember that massive tech outage last summer that grounded planes, knocked banks offline, and generally made the world feel like it was ending for a few hours? Yeah, that one hit CrowdStrike right in the chest. Most companies would still be licking their wounds. But here we are, just months later, and one of the loudest voices on Wall Street is pounding the table saying this might actually be a golden buying opportunity.
And that voice belongs to none other than Jim Cramer.
The Comeback Story Everyone Underestimated
Let me be honest – when the outage happened, I thought CrowdStrike was toast. The stock cratered over 30% in days. Customers were furious. Lawsuits were flying. It felt like one of those corporate America’s biggest self-inflicted wounds in years.
But something interesting happened on the way to oblivion. The company didn’t just fix the problem – they went into overdrive. CEO George Kurtz was everywhere, taking responsibility, explaining what went wrong, and most importantly, showing how they were making sure it would never happen again.
Fast forward to today, and the narrative has completely flipped.
“This is where we begin to see some real progress from the deals that were created>
Jim Cramer, discussing CrowdStrike on his Monday Morning Meeting
What Changed My Mind in Real Time
I’ll admit something – I was wrong about this stock. Dead wrong.
When shares were trading in the low $200s after the crash, it felt like value trap city. The damage seemed permanent. But watching management execute their recovery plan has been something to behold. They’ve been winning back trust the old-fashioned way – by actually delivering better security and proving their platform is more essential than ever.
And now, with earnings just hours away, the setup feels dramatically different than anyone expected even three months ago.
The New Products Actually Matter
Here’s what most people miss when they look at CrowdStrike – this isn’t just another endpoint security company anymore. They’ve been aggressively expanding the Falcon platform into new territories that actually solve the problems enterprises are screaming about right now.
We’re talking identity protection, cloud security, and increasingly, AI-driven threat detection that learns faster than traditional signature-based systems ever could. These aren’t just incremental updates. They’re the kind of additions that make CIOs sit up and take notice.
- Falcon Identity Protection – stopping credential theft before it happens
- Cloud security module that’s gaining serious traction
- Next-gen antivirus that actually uses AI meaningfully
- New partnerships that extend reach into areas competitors can’t touch
When Cramer says the company has “new products that are very exciting,” he’s not just blowing smoke. These launches are hitting at exactly the moment when companies are more paranoid about cyber attacks than ever before.
The Math Is Starting to Work Again
Let’s talk numbers, because this is where things get really interesting.
Before the outage, CrowdStrike was growing revenue at 33% year-over-year while generating massive free cash flow. The incident obviously disrupted that trajectory temporarily, but the underlying business fundamentals never actually disappeared.
In fact, some metrics have been improving. Customer retention remains elite. The dollar-based net retention rate – that crucial measure of how much existing customers are spending – has held up remarkably well through all this noise.
Translation? The outage scared some prospects, sure. But the customers who know the platform best kept spending more money.
Why This Earnings Report Feels Different
Tuesday’s report isn’t just another quarterly update. It’s the first real chance to see whether the recovery story is real or just Wall Street wishful thinking.
The key questions everyone will be watching:
- How many of those post-outage deals are actually closing?
- Is the pipeline as healthy as management has suggested?
- Are the new products contributing meaningful revenue yet?
- Most importantly – has customer sentiment truly recovered?
From everything I’m hearing, the answers to these questions are trending positive. Much more positive than most investors seem to appreciate.
“George has a good narrative”> Cramer on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz
And narrative matters in this market. Especially when you’re selling enterprise software to skeptical CIOs who just watched your mistake make global headlines.
The Amazon Parallel That Should Scare Competitors
Something Cramer mentioned Monday really stuck with me – the parallel to Amazon Web Services.
Remember when everyone thought Amazon was falling behind in AI? When Microsoft and Google were announcing partnership after partnership and AWS seemed quiet? Then suddenly Amazon started showing 20% growth again and reminded everyone who still runs cloud computing.
CrowdStrike finds itself in a similar position in cybersecurity. While competitors have been noisy, CrowdStrike has been executing. And execution eventually wins.
They’re still the category leader in endpoint detection and response. They still have the most complete platform vision. And crucially, they’ve already been through the worst-case scenario and survived.
What Could Go Wrong (Because It Always Can)
Look, I’m bullish here, but let’s be adults about this.
If guidance disappoints, or if management reveals the recovery is taking longer than expected, this stock will get punished. The valuation multiple is still rich – there’s no margin of safety if they miss expectations.
There’s also the macro environment. If enterprises suddenly slam the brakes on spending, even the best cybersecurity companies will feel it.
But here’s the thing – none of that feels like the base case anymore.
The Bottom Line
Sometimes the best investments come from the companies that screw up spectacularly and then fix it even more spectacularly.
CrowdStrike had their moment in the barrel. They took their medicine. And now they’re positioned to come out stronger than they went in – with better processes, deeper customer relationships, and a management team that’s been battle-tested in the harshest way possible.
When Jim Cramer – who’s seen every kind of corporate meltdown and recovery over decades – says he’s excited about this earnings report, that carries weight.
And when the company has new products gaining traction, deals starting to close, and a CEO who’s successfully navigated the toughest crisis of his career?
That’s the kind of setup growth investors dream about.
Tuesday’s earnings won’t just be another quarterly report. It might just be the moment when CrowdStrike reminds everyone why they became the leader in cybersecurity in the first place.
Sometimes the biggest winners come from the names that everyone else wrote off too soon.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
