CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. has fully regained the $30 billion in market value that it lost following the global Windows outage caused by a faulty update to its antivirus software last summer. According to the Financial Times, the company's stock—which had fallen by more than a third in the two weeks following the incident—now exceeds its value before the outage.
In an interview with FT, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz explained that the company managed to turn the crisis into a "competitive advantage," emphasizing that customer trust remained unchanged despite the incident.
"Customers are sticking with us," Kurtz noted. "One customer even said that broken bones heal stronger, and they do not expect this situation to repeat. On the other hand, competitors who haven't gone through such incidents might be more risk-prone."
The July 19 outage affected thousands of Windows-based computers and servers worldwide. Many well-known companies relied on CrowdStrike as their first line of defense against cyber threats, amplifying the scale of the incident.
Despite insurance companies predicting that the outage could result in billions of dollars in losses, CrowdStrike only slightly lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter, citing a 97% customer retention rate during the quarter when the incident occurred.
However, not all customers remained loyal. In October, Delta Air Lines, which had to cancel 7,000 flights due to the outage, filed a lawsuit against CrowdStrike, seeking $500 million in compensation. CrowdStrike, however, denies these claims, pointing to Delta's outdated IT infrastructure as the main issue.