CrowdStrike vs Palo Alto Networks: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
CrowdStrike reported $4.8B of revenue in FY2026 and a net loss of $162.5M. Palo Alto Networks reported $11.5B of revenue in FY2026 and $307M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
CrowdStrike
- Latest revenue
- $4.8B (FY2026)
- Net income
- -$162.5M
- Net margin
- -3.4%
- Revenue growth
- +58.8% a year, FY2018–FY2026
Palo Alto Networks
- Latest revenue
- $11.5B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $307M
- Net margin
- 2.7%
- Revenue growth
- +23.2% a year, FY2017–FY2026
Financial summary
CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike is a high-growth subscription business with strong cash generation but thin GAAP profits. Fiscal 2026 revenue was $4.81 billion, up about 22% from $3.95 billion. Ending ARR rose 24% to $5.25 billion, with a record $1.01 billion of net new ARR. Free cash flow reached $1.24 billion (26% of revenue), yet the GAAP net loss widened to $162.5 million because of stock-based compensation and outage-related costs. Growth accelerated in fiscal 2027: Q2 revenue was $1.47 billion (+26%), ARR reached $5.84 billion (+25%), and Q2 free cash flow was a record $377 million. Management raised its fiscal 2027 net new ARR growth outlook to 34% at the midpoint and keeps a long-term target of $10 billion in ending ARR by fiscal 2031.
Palo Alto Networks
Revenue grew from $1.76 billion in fiscal 2017 to $11.48 billion in fiscal 2026 as the company moved from firewall boxes to subscriptions. GAAP profit has been uneven. The company lost money through fiscal 2022, then earned $440 million in fiscal 2023 and $2.58 billion in fiscal 2024 (a figure lifted by a one-time tax benefit). It earned $1.13 billion in fiscal 2025 and $307 million in fiscal 2026, when CyberArk and Chronosphere acquisition costs produced GAAP net losses of $177 million in Q3 and $282 million in Q4. Cash generation is stronger: fiscal 2026 adjusted free cash flow margin was 38.4%, and management targets 40% by fiscal 2028.
Revenue and profit by year
CrowdStrike
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $4.8B | -$162.5M | -3.4% | +21.7% | Source |
| FY2025 | $4B | -$15.2M | -0.4% | +29.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $3.1B | $72.2M | 2.4% | +36.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2.2B | -$183.2M | -8.2% | +54.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $1.5B | -$234.8M | -16.2% | +66.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $874.4M | -$92.6M | -10.6% | +81.6% | Source |
| FY2020 | $481.4M | -$141.8M | -29.5% | +92.7% | Source |
| FY2019 | $249.8M | -$140.1M | -56.1% | +110.4% | Source |
| FY2018 | $118.8M | -$135.5M | -114.1% | — | Source |
Palo Alto Networks
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $11.5B | $307M | 2.7% | +24.5% | Source |
| FY2025 | $9.2B | $1.1B | 12.3% | +14.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $8B | $2.6B | 32.1% | +16.5% | Source |
| FY2023 | $6.9B | $439.7M | 6.4% | +25.3% | Source |
| FY2022 | $5.5B | -$267M | -4.9% | +29.3% | Source |
| FY2021 | $4.3B | -$498.9M | -11.7% | +24.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $3.4B | -$267M | -7.8% | +17.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $2.9B | -$81.9M | -2.8% | +27.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $2.3B | -$122.2M | -5.4% | +29.0% | Source |
| FY2017 | $1.8B | -$203M | -11.5% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
CrowdStrike
- Subscription Revenue~95%
Recurring Falcon platform subscriptions across endpoint, identity, cloud, SIEM, exposure management, threat intelligence, and Falcon Complete managed services.
- Professional Services Revenue~5%
Incident response, forensic investigations, tabletop exercises, and security advisory engagements, which often lead to subscription sales.
Palo Alto Networks
- Subscriptions and SupportLargest
Recurring security subscriptions, support, SASE, cloud security, and Cortex products.
- Product RevenueMaterial
Physical and virtual firewall products and related hardware/software sales.
- ServicesEmbedded
Incident response, advisory, and other security services.
Business model and strategy
CrowdStrike
How it makes money
CrowdStrike makes money mainly from subscriptions to its Falcon platform, which accounts for roughly 95% of revenue; the rest comes from professional services such as incident response. Customers deploy one sensor and pay per protected endpoint, workload, or identity, then add modules (EDR/XDR, identity protection, cloud security, Next-Gen SIEM, exposure management, Charlotte AI) without installing new software.
Growth strategy
CrowdStrike's growth strategy is to become the consolidation platform for the security operations center. Beyond endpoint protection, it is pushing Next-Gen SIEM, cloud security, identity protection, exposure management, and Charlotte AI agentic security workflows.
Competitive advantage
CrowdStrike's advantage comes from its single-agent, cloud-native architecture and the volume of telemetry it collects. One sensor supports dozens of modules, so customers can add new products without new deployments, and data from its large installed base feeds detection models and the Counter Adversary Operations intelligence team.
Palo Alto Networks
How it makes money
Palo Alto Networks makes most of its money from recurring subscriptions and support, with the rest from firewall products. Customers buy hardware and virtual next-generation firewalls and then pay yearly for threat prevention, URL filtering, DNS security and SD-WAN services.
Growth strategy
Since early 2024, Palo Alto has pursued 'platformization'. It offers customers free or discounted periods so they can move off rival tools before their contracts expire, in exchange for long-term commitments to its platforms.
Competitive advantage
Palo Alto's edge is breadth combined with a large installed firewall base. Few vendors can sell network security, SASE, cloud security, SOC automation and identity security under one contract, and the PAN-OS policies that enterprises have built up over years make firewall replacement slow and risky. Telemetry from that base feeds Unit 42 threat research and the AI models in Cortex.
Questions about CrowdStrike vs Palo Alto Networks
Which company has higher revenue — CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. or Palo Alto Networks, Inc.?
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. reported $4.8B (FY2026), while Palo Alto Networks, Inc. reported $11.5B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is the larger business, with CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. vs Palo Alto Networks, Inc.?
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $269.0B, while Palo Alto Networks, Inc.'s is $306.5B. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. or Palo Alto Networks, Inc.?
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. generates $450k / employee in revenue per employee, while Palo Alto Networks, Inc. generates $714k / employee. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. make money?
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.: CrowdStrike makes money mainly from subscriptions to its Falcon platform, which accounts for roughly 95% of revenue; the rest comes from professional services such as incident response. Palo Alto Networks, Inc.: Palo Alto Networks makes most of its money from recurring subscriptions and support, with the rest from firewall products.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. or Palo Alto Networks, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. trades at 55.9x P/S and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. at 26.7x P/S. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Palo Alto Networks, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. bigger than Palo Alto Networks, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. ($11.5B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. ($4.8B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the CrowdStrike vs Palo Alto Networks overview