Cloudflare shares surged 5% on Wednesday afternoon after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, setting a $222 price target. The move follows a 15.4% pullback in NET shares last week, which analysts called a buying opportunity. Cloudflare remains up 64% year-over-year.

Revenue projections of $2.79 billion for 2026 and $3.6 billion for 2027 reflect sustained 30% growth rates. The upgrade highlights Cloudflare's strategic positioning across delivery, security, networking-as-a-service, and AI infrastructure. Partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic are driving its AI-as-a-service segment.

Early Q1 2026 indicators show accelerating website growth, market share gains, and strong demand for security and network services. Piper Sandler notes the infrastructure landscape is shifting in ways that amplify Cloudflare's competitive advantages.