Data as of:
LIVE
FSLY
Fastly, Inc. · Technology - Edge Cloud & Content Delivery Network
$24.57
-7.60% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
NET
Cloudflare, Inc. · Technology - Network Security & Edge Platform
$333.94
+10.81% this month
Comparison scoreboard
FSLY LEADS 3/5AI Scorei
FSLY 25.8
NET ✓64.9
1Y Returni
FSLY ✓+184.70%
NET +56.13%
Fwd P/Ei
FSLY ✓34.87
NET 179.44
Target Up.i
FSLY ✓+32.61%
NET +11.24%
Op. Margini
FSLY -7.87%
NET ✓-7.60%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/18/2026
Quick take
FSLY vs NET Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
FSLY (Fastly) and NET (Cloudflare) are both edge networking companies but with very different scale, strategic vision, and competitive position — Fastly is a focused edge CDN and compute platform with developer-centric configurability serving high-performance media and SaaS customers, while Cloudflare is a much larger, rapidly growing connectivity cloud that has evolved from CDN into a comprehensive network security platform (zero trust, SASE, DDoS) and edge compute platform competing with AWS, Zscaler, and Akamai simultaneously.
FSLY vs NET is focused edge CDN and developer computing platform competing on performance and flexibility (Fastly's real-time configurable CDN, WebAssembly-based Compute@Edge, and media/e-commerce customer focus — facing profitability challenges and formidable competition) versus security-first global network platform compounding into the TAM (Cloudflare's CDN-to-security-to-AI-inference platform expansion leveraging 20% of global internet traffic for threat intelligence, addressing zero trust, SASE, serverless, and AI inference simultaneously at a premium valuation) — niche edge performance versus platform ubiquity ambition.
Live analysis · updated 9/18/2026
FSLY holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. FSLY leads on both 1-year return (+184.70%) and forward P/E quality (34.87x vs 179.44x for NET), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. NET leads on both revenue growth (35.90%) and operating margin (-7.60%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for FSLY (+32.61%) than for NET (+11.24%).
Want a full valuation workup? 46-section report — AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, bull/bear case, DCF, and more.
Normalized 1Y performance
FSLY
NET
Recent returns
FSLY
NET
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
FSLY
Price target range
analyst mean$27.00
current price$24.57
+32.6% upside to analyst mean
NET · 31 analysts
Price target range
analyst low$160.00
analyst high$400.00
analyst mean$333.55
current price$333.94
+11.2% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
FSLY may suit investors who:
- Believe Fastly's developer-centric real-time configurable CDN and Compute@Edge platform will capture enterprise customers who prioritize edge performance and flexibility over Cloudflare's broader but more standardized platform
- See Fastly's smaller scale as an opportunity if the company can demonstrate revenue acceleration and a credible path to profitability without requiring the same R&D investment as Cloudflare's multi-product expansion
- Want a focused pure-play CDN and edge compute investment without Cloudflare's premium valuation multiple, accepting higher binary risk around Fastly's competitive positioning versus Cloudflare and Akamai
NET may suit investors who:
- Believe Cloudflare's one-platform network strategy (combining CDN, zero trust security, serverless compute, and AI inference) positions it to capture enterprise networking and security spend across multiple growing markets simultaneously
- Value Cloudflare's massive network effect — 20% of global internet traffic generates threat intelligence that compounds each security product's effectiveness, creating a data moat that pure CDN or pure security vendors cannot replicate
- Are willing to pay a premium revenue multiple for Cloudflare's sustained high growth trajectory and the platform's potential to become the default global network connectivity layer for enterprise internet traffic
Performance & AI score
| Metric | FSLY | NET |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 25.8 | 64.9 |
| AI ranki | #2693 | #83 |
| Latest closei | $24.57 | $333.94 |
| 1M returni | -7.60% | +10.81% |
| 6M returni | -7.11% | +50.86% |
| 1Y returni | +184.70% | +56.13% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | FSLY | NET |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $28.47K (+184.7%) started 2025-09-17 | $14.94K (+49.4%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $5.48K (-45.2%) started 2021-09-17 | $26.26K (+162.6%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $10.24K (+2.4%) started 2019-05-17 | $185.52K (+1755.2%) started 2019-09-13 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | FSLY | NET |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $3.24B | $106.77B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 34.87 | 179.44 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 42.56 |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.90 | 42.24 |
| Analyst targeti | $27.00 | $333.55 |
| Target upsidei | +32.61% | +11.24% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | FSLY | NET |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 23.30% | 35.90% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growthi | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margini | +12.66% | +27.54% |
| Operating margini | -7.87% | -7.60% |
| Profit margini | -11.80% | -8.21% |
| ROIC proxyi | -8.39% | -14.43% |
| Return on equityi | -8.39% | -14.43% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.36 | 1.66 |
| Debt/equityi | 40.20 | 217.86 |
| Current ratioi | 3.36 | 1.82 |
| Quick ratioi | 3.17 | 1.75 |
Correlation
Over the past year, FSLY and NET have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.34), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.34
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.49
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.51
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
FSLY max drawdowni51.60%
NET max drawdowni36.76%
FSLY max wkly dropi42.00%
NET max wkly dropi23.58%
5Y risk snapshot
FSLY max drawdowni90.81%
NET max drawdowni82.58%
FSLY max wkly dropi42.00%
NET max wkly dropi39.37%
10Y risk snapshot
FSLY max drawdowni96.12%
NET max drawdowni82.58%
FSLY max wkly dropi42.00%
NET max wkly dropi39.37%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | FSLY | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +184.70% | +49.37% |
| CAGRi | +184.91% | +49.43% | |
| Volatilityi | 120.92% | 63.87% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.38 | 0.89 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.58 | 1.27 | |
| Max drawdowni | 51.60% | 36.76% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.66% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 21.34% | 14.71% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.65% | 17.64% | |
| Max daily dropi | 38.23% | 23.62% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.00% | 23.58% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -45.24% | +162.55% |
| CAGRi | -11.35% | +21.33% | |
| Volatilityi | 88.62% | 69.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.25 | 0.56 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.38 | 0.82 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.81% | 82.58% | |
| Current drawdowni | 54.83% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 71.77% | 47.26% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 74.09% | 53.91% | |
| Max daily dropi | 38.23% | 23.62% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.00% | 39.37% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +2.42% | +1755.22% |
| CAGRi | +0.33% | +51.65% | |
| Volatilityi | 89.03% | 67.36% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.39 | 0.89 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.60 | 1.34 | |
| Max drawdowni | 96.12% | 82.58% | |
| Current drawdowni | 80.93% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 70.63% | 36.37% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 76.15% | 45.98% | |
| Max daily dropi | 38.23% | 23.62% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.00% | 39.37% |
Business comparison
| Category | FSLY | NET |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Fastly, Inc. | Cloudflare, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Application | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Fastly is an edge cloud platform providing content delivery network (CDN) services, edge computing (Compute@Edge — running code at Fastly's network edge using WebAssembly), streaming delivery (video and live streaming), image optimization, and DDoS mitigation. Fastly's platform is built on a globally distributed network of Points of Presence (PoPs) that cache content close to end users, reducing latency and improving performance for websites, apps, and APIs. Fastly is known for its real-time configurability (configuration changes propagate globally in seconds versus minutes for traditional CDNs) and developer focus — serving media, e-commerce, technology, and SaaS companies that require high performance and flexibility. | Cloudflare is a global connectivity cloud company that operates one of the world's largest networks (spanning 300+ cities in 100+ countries), providing content delivery (CDN), DDoS mitigation, zero trust network access (ZTNA), secure access service edge (SASE), Workers (serverless computing at the edge), R2 storage, and AI inference at the edge. Cloudflare started as a DDoS protection and CDN company and has evolved into a comprehensive network security and connectivity platform. Cloudflare's free tier (millions of websites use Cloudflare's free CDN and DNS protection) provides both a massive user base and threat intelligence data that improves the paid security products. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Fastly's net revenue retention rate (how much existing customers spend over time), dollar-based net expansion rate, total customer count and enterprise customer growth, average revenue per customer, and the trajectory toward profitability (Fastly has had persistently negative operating margins). | Investors track Cloudflare's revenue growth, dollar-based net retention rate (how much existing customers spend over time), large customer growth (customers spending $100K+ annually), operating margin trajectory toward profitability, and the expansion into zero trust security, SASE, and AI inference as new product growth vectors. |
FSLY strengths
- Real-time configuration propagation and developer-centric platform provide differentiation from legacy CDNs — Fastly's Varnish-based configuration language (VCL) and real-time API allow developers to make complex edge logic changes that propagate globally in seconds; legacy CDNs (Akamai) are less flexible and slower to configure
- Compute@Edge (WebAssembly-based edge computing) provides a differentiated serverless computing offering at the network edge — running code in WebAssembly (WASM) provides language-agnostic, sandboxed edge compute with near-native performance; Fastly enables developers to run application logic closer to users than traditional cloud regions
- Media and large digital native companies are high-bandwidth customers with significant edge infrastructure needs — Fastly's customer base includes major media (TikTok was historically a large customer), e-commerce, and SaaS companies with high CDN usage requirements; these customers drive significant revenue per account
NET strengths
- Cloudflare's network flywheel — massive traffic volume (approximately 20% of global internet traffic touches Cloudflare's network) generates threat intelligence data that improves security products; better security products attract more customers; more customers generate more threat data — a self-reinforcing data moat that is difficult for competitors to replicate
- Security-first platform positioning allows Cloudflare to address a larger TAM than pure CDN providers — Cloudflare competes not just with Fastly and Akamai (CDN) but also with Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks (zero trust security), CrowdStrike (endpoint security), and traditional WAN optimization vendors; the SASE/zero trust market is growing rapidly as enterprises replace VPNs and perimeter security
- One platform approach reduces customer complexity — Cloudflare's strategy of offering CDN, security (DDoS, WAF, ZTNA), serverless compute (Workers), storage (R2), and AI inference (Workers AI) on a single platform reduces the number of point vendors enterprises need; consolidation saves cost and simplifies management
Risks to watch — FSLY
- TikTok customer concentration risk was significant — TikTok represented approximately 12% of Fastly's revenue in 2020; when TikTok's U.S. operations faced regulatory uncertainty, Fastly's revenue outlook was directly impacted; customer concentration in a single large customer creates revenue risk
- Fastly competes with much larger CDN and edge players — Cloudflare, Akamai, Amazon CloudFront, and Google Cloud CDN are formidable competitors; Fastly lacks the security product breadth of Cloudflare and the scale of Akamai or AWS
- Path to profitability has been long and uncertain — Fastly has invested heavily in network infrastructure and R&D with persistently negative operating margins; the network economics (high fixed infrastructure costs) require significant revenue scale to achieve profitability
Risks to watch — NET
- Cloudflare's premium valuation requires sustained high revenue growth — NET trades at very high revenue multiples (typically 15-25x forward revenue at peak); any revenue growth deceleration triggers significant multiple compression
- Zero trust security market is intensely competitive — Zscaler (ZS) is the market leader in zero trust internet access; CrowdStrike is expanding into network security; Palo Alto Networks has a comprehensive SASE platform; Cloudflare competes with large, well-funded security incumbents that have deeper enterprise security relationships
- Workers and R2 compete with AWS Lambda and S3 — Cloudflare's serverless compute and storage products compete with AWS's dominant serverless (Lambda) and object storage (S3) offerings; building developer ecosystems comparable to AWS requires sustained investment and time
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