Shares of Cloudflare (NYSE:NET | NET Price Prediction) are up 9% in midday trading to about $269 after Scotiabank upgraded the stock and raised its price target.

A deepening sell-off in chip and memory stocks dragged all four major U.S. equity indexes lower by midday Tuesday.

/PRNewswire/ -- Equity Insider News Commentary, One of the quieter but more consequential races in technology is the effort to rebuild the world's encryption

Cloudflare Inc. (NET) shares climbed 7% on Tuesday after Scotiabank upgraded the cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity company, citing growing confidence in its long-term role in artificial intelligence infrastructure and raising its price target on the stock. The brokerage upgraded Cloudflare to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform and increased its price target to $300 from $225, pointing to multiple catalysts that it believes could drive stronger revenue growth over the coming quarters.

Pre-Market Stock Futures: Futures are trading mixed, with the Nasdaq getting hammered after a gangbuster start to the first full trading week of the third quarter. All of the major indices finished the day higher, with chip stocks once again leading the way. When the dust settled at the close, the Nasdaq finished the day... Here Are Tuesday's Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Adobe, American Airlines, Broadcom, First Solar, Meta Platforms, Shopify, Space-X, Ventas, Waste Managment, and More

An Evercore analyst notes that infrastructure software stocks have vastly outperformed application names. But there's still hope for companies like Salesforce.

Cloudflare (NET +2.36%) could become a key toll road for the internet as AI agents drive more traffic across the web. Pay Per Crawl gives the company a fascinating new revenue angle, but valuation, competition, and insider selling make the stock a much harder call.

Cloudflare is making the boldest AI pivot of any Tier 1 internet infrastructure provider.

Cloudflare has just issued the AI industry a new deadline to separate the web crawlers used for traditional search purposes, like Google Search, from those used for AI agents and training. Starting on September 15, 2026, Cloudflare's default settings will block “mixed-use” crawlers from any pages that host ads, the company announced on Wednesday.

When deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock, investors often rely on analyst recommendations. Media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts often influence a stock's price, but are they really important?