Cloudflare's Financials Remain Far From Perfect, but Business Is Still Rolling

After a couple of years of elevated revenue growth of over 50%, Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) finally dipped below that rate. Sales expanded only 47% year-over-year in Q3 2022, bringing the company's annualized revenue to over $1 billion for the first time.

The initial market reaction to these results was not great. Cloudflare stock went from $50 to $41 in a snap, although some of those short-term declines have since been reversed with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' read on inflation showing signs that multi-decade high cost of living increases are easing. Investors are hopeful this will mean an end to the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes.

Nevertheless, economics aside, Cloudflare's business is obviously still rocking and rolling. But besides all-out revenue growth, this small company's financials aren't perfect. Are shares a buy at this point?

No profit, and more stock-based compensation

Q3 2022 revenue was $254 million. Cloudflare keeps adding new customers large and small at a rapid pace as they build on their library of internet security and app development tools. Dollar-based net retention was 124%, implying that existing customers spent 24% more with Cloudflare than they did a year ago.