Why Crowdstrike CEO just spent a reported $300 million to become a partial owner of the Mercedes F1 team

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Winning connected and disconnected the grid is the regular absorption of CrowdStrike (CRWD) laminitis and CEO George Kurtz.

Kurtz is an accomplished endurance racer with a passionateness for driving Mercedes AMG cars. That led him precocious to acquisition a number involvement successful the Mercedes F1 squad (which CrowdStrike has sponsored) for a chill $300 million.

It’s an unthinkable marrying of Kurtz’s nationalist institution experience, tech experience, and passionateness for racing astatine precocious speeds.

"I've ever been a gear-head, ever loved cars and going accelerated and the thrill of the adrenaline rush, if you will, and ne'er had the accidental to bash it arsenic a kid. So I got into it a small spot aboriginal successful life," Kurtz told maine successful a caller occurrence of Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (video above; perceive successful below).

Explained Kurtz connected his caller purchase, "Over the past mates years I've been chatting with him [Mercedes squad main Toto Wolff] astir what different opportunities are there. And these sorts of things instrumentality a while. There's lone 10 present going to 11 F1 teams. There's lone 1 Mercedes squad ... I'm delighted to accidental that I'm present a method advisor with them moving connected some commercialized arsenic good arsenic benignant of leveraging information for on-track performance."

At the aforesaid time, CrowdStrike is gearing up for a large 2026 arsenic much AI agents rise the hazard of cybersecurity threats. The institution is already opening to payment from companies going each successful connected menace protection.

CrowdStrike had a coagulated 3rd quarter. Sales roseate 22% from the anterior twelvemonth to $1.23 billion. Annual recurring gross (ARR) improved 23% from the anterior twelvemonth to $4.92 billion. Non-GAAP operating income deed a grounds of $264.6 million.

For the existent quarter, CrowdStrike said it sees income successful a scope of $1.29 cardinal to $1.3 billion. Earnings are pegged astatine $1.09 to $1.11. Yahoo Finance information shows analysts are expecting CrowdStrike to present toward the precocious extremity of its apical and bottommost enactment outlooks.

"You're going to request AI to combat AI, and you're going to request to support each these AI agents. We deliberation it's a large opportunity," Kurtz said of the request backdrop for cybersecurity.

Shares person gained 24% successful the past year, out-performing the Nasdaq Composite's 17% advance.

"CrowdStrike is an important level vendor with a fig of drivers to prolong astatine slightest high-teens top-line maturation and improving profitability successful coming years and stay buyers," Stifel expert Adam Borg said successful a note.