Cloudflare shares rose more than 17% in after-hours trading on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, after the internet infrastructure company reported third-quarter revenue of $782.5 million, up 39% from a year earlier and well above Wall Street expectations.

The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.38 per share, compared with analyst estimates of approximately $0.34, according to MarketBeat. Revenue exceeded expectations of roughly $737 million by more than $45 million.

Cloudflare said the results represented its fastest revenue growth in nearly four years, driven by continued demand for its cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and AI development services.

“The third quarter was Cloudflare’s best quarter ever,” said Matthew Prince, the company’s cofounder and CEO. Prince added that Cloudflare had surpassed $3 billion in annualized revenue.

Cloudflare reported adjusted operating income of $137.1 million, up from $85.9 million a year earlier. Its adjusted operating margin expanded to 17.5% from 15.3%.

On a GAAP basis, however, the company’s net loss widened to $34.1 million from $1.3 million in the same period last year. Its GAAP operating loss also increased to $67.9 million from $37.5 million.

The split between the two scorecards comes down to accounting conventions: adjusted, non-GAAP figures typically exclude costs such as stock-based compensation, while GAAP results count them. Because non-GAAP measures are not standardized, the same quarter can look solidly profitable on an adjusted basis and loss-making under GAAP — which is why the widening gap between Cloudflare’s two sets of results is worth tracking alongside the headline beat.

Cloudflare’s current remaining performance obligations, a measure of contracted revenue expected to be recognized within the next 12 months, increased 37% from a year earlier.

The company raised its financial outlook for the remainder of 2026. It projected fourth-quarter revenue of between $845 million and $846 million, along with adjusted earnings of $0.43 per share.

For the full year, Cloudflare now expects revenue of between $2.963 billion and $2.964 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share. The company’s earnings materials are available in its official third-quarter filing.

The raised outlook implies a sequential step-up: the midpoint of the fourth-quarter revenue range sits roughly 8% above the third quarter’s $782.5 million. Whether Cloudflare can clear the higher bar it has set for itself will come into focus when the company reports fourth-quarter results.

The results came as technology stocks faced a sharp selloff on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 5% as semiconductor and AI infrastructure companies recorded heavy losses. Cloudflare shares had also declined during regular trading alongside other cybersecurity stocks before rebounding after the earnings release. The post-earnings rebound ran counter to the market’s direction, underscoring how a single company’s results can set a stock apart from prevailing market currents on a given day.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen.