Cloudflare Up 4.6% on Deutsche Bank Buy Rating, Then Jumps 9% After Scotiabank Upgrade

Deutsche Bank upgraded Cloudflare to a Buy rating, highlighting the company’s role in supporting surging AI-driven internet traffic. The analyst noted that Cloudflare’s infrastructure could capture increased demand from AI models and mentioned its exploration of new revenue streams, such as a Pay Per Crawl service for AI training.

Following the upgrade, Cloudflare shares climbed 4.59% to $258.91, pushing market capitalization toward a fresh high. Trading volumes spiked as investors reacted to the positive outlook, marking the largest intraday gain in over a month.

Later in the session, Scotiabank raised Cloudflare’s price target, triggering a further 9% Rally to $269. The move reflected confidence in Cloudflare’s growth trajectory and strengthened analyst sentiment around its strategic positioning in web infrastructure.

Cloudflare announced it will block certain AI web crawlers from pages containing advertising starting September 15. The policy aims to protect publishers’ ad revenue and user privacy, potentially shaping future agreements with AI model providers and influencing traffic patterns.