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

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii

3

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii

3

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
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

Best private student loans for medical school
Personal Financestudent loans and debt
Best private student loans for medical school
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago
Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
Investingstock prices
Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 2, 2026
9 hours ago
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
EconomyDebt
AI’s $2.2 trillion deficit fix is already half fake, economists say
By Tristan BoveJuly 2, 2026
10 hours ago
s
Personal FinanceSports
The sports economy is unaffordable at the bar, let alone the stadium
By Catherina GioinoJuly 2, 2026
10 hours ago
sb
North AmericaU.S. Department of the Treasury
Scott Bessent goes after the top Mexican cartel’s new billion-dollar business: gas stations
By Fatima Hussein and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
10 hours ago
eggs
LawAntitrust
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
Success
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
12 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
8 days ago
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
Success
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
22 hours ago
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
Success
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
By Emma BurleighJuly 2, 2026
13 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 2, 2026
15 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.