CrowdStrike CRWD is expanding its identity security business as more companies deploy AI across their operations. As AI agents gain access to enterprise applications and data, companies need tools to control what these agents can access and what actions they can perform. This is creating the demand for identity security solutions.
CrowdStrike is addressing this opportunity through Falcon Shield, Falcon Next-Gen Identity and SGNL, which it acquired in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. Falcon Shield’s ending annual recurring revenues (ARR) grew nearly four times year over year during the first quarter. Management also stated that its SGNL and Privileged Access products are seeing strong early demand as customers look to secure AI agents and other non-human identities.
The company is already winning new business. During the first quarter, a large U.S. healthcare company expanded its deployment by purchasing Falcon Next-Gen Identity and SGNL in a seven-figure deal. The customer wanted to control what AI agents could access across the organization. SGNL's ability to allow companies to set access policies and manage permissions for both employees and AI agents in real time should further boost the demand for CRWD's identity security business.
Identity security is becoming an important part of CrowdStrike's platform strategy. As customers add identity, cloud security, SIEM and endpoint security to the Falcon platform, CrowdStrike can increase spending from existing customers. Further, with more companies deploying AI across their businesses, the need to secure AI identities should continue to increase. The above-mentioned shows how identity security is becoming a key growth opportunity for CrowdStrike.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2027 and 2028 revenues indicates a year-over-year increase of around 23.5% and 21.6%, respectively.
How Competitors Fare Against CRWD
Competitors like Palo Alto Networks PANW and SentinelOne S are also gaining ground through platform expansion and AI innovation.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Palo Alto Networks saw robust growth in its Next-Gen Security ARR, which increased 60% year over year. The growth was driven by increased customer adoption of PANW’s advanced cybersecurity offerings, including its AI-driven XSIAM platform, SASE and software firewalls.
Though comparatively a small competitor, SentinelOne posted first-quarter fiscal 2027 year-over-year growth of 23% in its ARR. The growth was fueled by the rising adoption of SentinelOne’s AI-first Singularity platform and Purple AI.
CRWD’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of CrowdStrike have jumped 58.7% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Security industry’s return of 49.8%.
CRWD YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, CrowdStrike trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 29.25, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 16.34. The Zacks Value Score of F also suggests that CRWD stock is overvalued.
CRWD Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CrowdStrike’s fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 32.2% and 26.9%, respectively. The estimates for fiscal 2027 and 2028 have been revised upward by 8 cents and 10 cents, respectively, over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CrowdStrike currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).