Cloudflare shocks Wall Street with AI layoffs despite earnings beat
Cloudflare shares fell sharply in after-hours trading on Thursday after the cloud infrastructure company announced major layoffs tied to its push into artificial intelligence.Cloudflare shares fell about 18% after the company announced plans to cut more than 1,100 jobs as part of an AI-focused restructuring.The company reported Q1 revenue of $640 million and adjusted EPS of $0.25, both above Wall Street expectations.Cloudflare said internal AI usage surged over 600% in three months as tech firms increasingly reorganize operations around automation and AI tools. According to recent reports, the stock dropped about 18% even after Cloudflare reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street expectations. The company posted revenue of $640 million for the quarter, up 34% from a year earlier and above analyst estimates of $622 million. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.25 per share, also ahead of expectations. However, investors focused instead on Cloudflares decision to cut more than 1,100 jobs globally, or roughly 20% of its workforce, as part of what it called an “agentic AI-first operating model.” Chief executive Matthew Prince said Cloudflares internal AI usage has jumped more than 600% over the past three months. According to the company, thousands of AI agent workflows are now being integrated