Why CrowdStrike Stock Is Gaining Today

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) stock is gaining ground in Thursday's trading. The cybersecurity specialist's share price was up 5% as of 12:15 p.m. ET, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence .

CrowdStrike reported results for the second quarter of its fiscal year after the market closed yesterday. The company's performance was under the microscope after a bug in one of its software updates resulted in widespread computer outages last month. Nevertheless, the business delivered results that beat Wall Street's expectations.

CrowdStrike beats sales and earnings expectations in Q2

CrowdStrike reported non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $1.04 on sales of $963.87 million in fiscal Q2, which ended July 31. Meanwhile, the average analyst estimate had called for the business to post adjusted earnings of $0.97 per share on revenue of $958.32 million.

The endpoint cybersecurity specialist's revenue increased 31.7% year over year, and the business recorded an adjusted gross margin of 81% -- up from a margin of 80% in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted earnings per share were up roughly 40.5% compared to earnings of $0.74 per share in last year's quarter.

CrowdStrike's forward guidance isn't as bad as some feared

For the third quarter, CrowdStrike guided for sales to come in between $979.2 million and $984.7 million. Meanwhile, the average analyst estimate had called for sales of $1.01 billion in the period.

Full-year guidance also fell short of the market's targets. CrowdStrike is guiding for annual revenue to be between $3.89 billion and roughly $3.9 billion, missing Wall Street's target for sales of $3.96 billion. Meanwhile, management forecasted adjusted earnings per share between $3.61 and $3.65 -- coming in significantly below the average analyst estimate's call for per-share earnings of $3.91.

But while CrowdStrike's guidance came in lower than expected, it wasn't as bad as many investors were anticipating. July's service outage and bug fiasco have clearly put a dent in the company's near-term performance outlook, but current indicators suggest that the event has not seriously derailed the business.

Keith Noonan has positions in CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .