NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 19:42 ET — After-hours
- CrowdStrike shares were down about 1.5% after the bell at $468.76.
- A newly filed 8-K detailed a performance-based equity award for CEO George Kurtz tied to S&P 500-relative returns through 2028.
- Wedbush’s Dan Ives reiterated a $600 price target and flagged CrowdStrike as a key AI-linked cyber play for 2026.
CrowdStrike Holdings shares slipped about 1.5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, leaving the cybersecurity firm at $468.76.
The move capped a soft finish for U.S. equities as investors closed the books on 2025, a year fueled by euphoria around AI-focused stocks, Reuters reported.
CrowdStrike drew fresh attention this week after it filed an 8-K describing a new, long-term performance stock unit award for CEO George Kurtz, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Performance stock units are equity awards that pay out only if targets are met. CrowdStrike said the award’s performance period runs from December 22, 2025 through December 22, 2028.
The payout is tied to total shareholder return (TSR) — stock price gains plus dividends reinvested — relative to the companies in the S&P 500, the filing and award agreement show.
At target, Kurtz received 300,000 performance units, with a sliding scale from zero to a maximum 600,000 shares if CrowdStrike’s TSR ranks at the 90th percentile or higher versus S&P 500 peers, the agreement shows.
CrowdStrike said the award is intended to retain Kurtz and align incentives with shareholders as the company pursues an ambition to reach $20 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a subscription metric that tracks contracted revenue expected each year.
Bullish analyst commentary also stayed in the mix. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives reiterated a $600 price target and wrote: “CrowdStrike remains one of our favorite tech names,” according to a Business Insider summary of his note. Business Insider
In the regular session, CrowdStrike traded between $468.48 and $476.84, with about 1.66 million shares changing hands, market data showed.
Cybersecurity peers were also lower late in the day. Palo Alto Networks fell about 1.4%, Zscaler was down about 1.1% and Fortinet slipped about 1.1%.
A separate Form 4 filing showed Chief Accounting Officer Anurag Saha sold 836 shares on December 24 at $476.83 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan — a pre-arranged trading plan that allows insiders to sell shares on a set schedule.
Broader risk appetite remained cautious into the close. The S&P 500 fell 0.74% and the Nasdaq lost 0.76% in the year’s final session, Reuters reported, adding that U.S. markets are closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day.
What investors watch next is whether CrowdStrike holds the mid-$460s area when liquidity returns on Friday, and how the stock tracks versus the broader market as Kurtz’s new award ties future payouts to S&P 500-relative performance. The company’s fiscal year ends January 31, and earnings calendars are already pointing to early March for the next results update, though CrowdStrike has not announced a date.
