Key Takeaways NET now offers 55 revenue-generating products, driving higher contract value and net retention rates.Cloudflare serves about 80% of leading AI firms, aided by its low-latency, globally distributed edge network.NET's bundled security tools and partnerships boost adoption, helping it gain market share.Cloudflare (NET) has structured its product portfolio to increasingly benefit from strong synergy and seamless compatibility across its offerings. Cloudflare now commands more than 55 revenue-gener ...

Core Insights - Cloudflare Inc. (NET) shares have increased by 85.1% over the past year, significantly outperforming the Zacks Internet – Software industry's growth of 4.5% [1] - The current performance raises questions for investors regarding whether to buy, sell, or hold Cloudflare stock [1] Group 1: AI and Security Growth - Cloudflare's edge network and security capabilities provide a low-latency network at an affordable cost, giving it a competitive edge among AI companies, serving approximately 80% of leading AI firms globally [4] - The company has over 55 revenue-generating products, which facilitate frictionless adoption and contribute to its annual contract value and net retention rate [5] - Cloudflare's security solutions, including Magic Transit, Zero Trust, and SASE, are gaining traction, with increased monetization opportunities from AI-related products like AI Crawl Control and Bot Management [6] Group 2: Long-term Growth Potential - The combination of AI, security, multi-cloud networking, and enterprise scale creates a robust growth engine for Cloudflare, with a Zacks Consensus Estimate projecting a 28% year-over-year revenue growth for 2025 [7] - Recent upward revisions in earnings estimates indicate positive sentiment, with a penny increase in the past week [7] Group 3: Strategic Partnerships - Cloudflare has strengthened collaborations with major companies such as Oracle, Alphabet, and Coinbase, enhancing its capabilities in cryptography and payment protocols [8][11] - The partnership with Oracle focuses on hybrid and multi-cloud workloads, while collaboration with Alphabet aims at post-quantum cryptography standards [10] - These strategic alliances position Cloudflare as a key player in shaping the future of the Internet and AI [11] Group 4: Market Position and Recommendations - Cloudflare's shares are currently trading above the 200-day moving average, indicating a bullish trend [14] - Given the company's strong performance in AI, security, enterprise adoption, and partnerships, it is recommended that investors consider buying NET stock now [15]

Core Points - The article discusses a significant outage of Cloudflare that caused widespread internet disruptions for approximately six hours, affecting numerous websites and online services globally [5][6][76]. - Cloudflare is described as an essential internet infrastructure provider, likened to a property management company for websites, responsible for security, speed, and traffic management [35][41]. - The outage was triggered by a misconfiguration during an update, leading to a database overload that caused the system to crash [46][52][76]. Group 1: Incident Overview - The outage began when users experienced difficulties accessing popular platforms like Twitter and ChatGPT, with many websites displaying Error 500 messages indicating Cloudflare's failure [7][14][16]. - The incident led to a collective outcry from users, highlighting the dependency on Cloudflare for internet access [16][19]. - The outage lasted nearly six hours, with services gradually restored after identifying and reverting to a previous stable configuration [75][76]. Group 2: Cloudflare's Role and Functionality - Cloudflare operates over 330 data centers worldwide, optimizing website access speed and providing security features such as DDoS protection and web application firewalls [38][41]. - The company’s architecture involves a complex database system designed to handle vast amounts of data, which was compromised during the incident due to a permissions adjustment [52][54]. - The misconfiguration led to a chaotic response from the system, where multiple data sources provided conflicting information, overwhelming the database and causing the crash [58][62]. Group 3: Implications and Future Considerations - The outage underscores the vulnerabilities inherent in relying on a few key infrastructure providers, as disruptions can have far-reaching consequences for businesses and users alike [81][87]. - Previous incidents, such as an AWS outage affecting millions, highlight the potential economic impact of such failures, with losses estimated in the millions per hour [81][82]. - The article calls for infrastructure companies to learn from these incidents to improve their systems and prevent future outages [85][88].

Core Viewpoint - Fastly's shares have declined 26.4% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Internet Software industry's appreciation of 14.8% and the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector's return of 5.7%, reflecting macroeconomic uncertainty and near-term softness in enterprise IT spending [1][2] Group 1: Company Performance - Fastly's strong partner ecosystem, expanding product portfolio, and consistent enterprise traction provide visibility into sustained execution, making the recent dip an attractive entry point for investors [2][17] - Fastly closed the first quarter of 2025 with 577 enterprise customers, contributing 93% of total revenue, and remaining performance obligations rose 33.5% year over year to $303 million [11][17] - The company expects revenues between $143 million and $147 million for the second quarter of 2025, indicating sequential growth from the March quarter, with a non-GAAP operating loss projected between $8 million and $4 million [15][17] Group 2: Product Innovations - Fastly continues to enhance its platform by introducing capabilities that address modern infrastructure challenges, evolving into a full-stack edge cloud platform [5][17] - New features include Client-Side Protection for browser-based security, expanded Bot Management capabilities, and HTTP Cache API support for programmatic cache control, improving developer experience and security [6][7][8] Group 3: Market Positioning - Fastly benefits from a rich partner base, including Microsoft, Alphabet, and Palo Alto Networks, enhancing its positioning in multi-cloud environments and security-led use cases [9][10] - Fastly shares are attractively valued, trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) of 1.63X, significantly lower than the industry's 5.76X [12][17] Group 4: Future Outlook - The company's stable second-quarter outlook and disciplined execution offer added visibility, with positive estimate trends supporting the case for accumulation [17][18]