Why is Backblaze stock surging today?

Backblaze stock surged 34.3% in pre-open trading after the company released its third-quarter 2026 financial results on the evening of November 2, delivering a rare double beat on both earnings and revenue that caught the market off guard. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.09, well ahead of the $0.05 consensus estimate, while total revenue of $46.7 million — up 26% year-over-year — exceeded forecasts by more than 13%. The company simultaneously raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $177.8 million to $178.2 million and guided fourth-quarter revenue of $49.8 million to $50.2 million, both above what analysts had modeled.

The headline numbers were amplified by the quality of the underlying growth drivers. B2 Cloud Storage revenue accelerated to 47% year-over-year growth — up from 34% in the prior quarter — with B2 ARR reaching approximately $127 million, a 53% increase year-over-year. The company signed four new deals exceeding $500,000 in ARR during the quarter, including three expansions with existing AI builders, while the CoreWeave partnership began ramping and an additional agreement worth over $4 million in ARR was signed. On the analyst front, Citizens reiterated its Market Outperform rating with a $21 price target, and Needham maintained its Buy rating, though it trimmed its price target to $15 from $23.

The broader market provided a modestly supportive backdrop, with the NASDAQ advancing 0.4% while the S&P 500 was essentially flat and the Dow Jones edged lower. The constructive tone in technology names helped amplify investor enthusiasm for Backblaze’s AI infrastructure narrative, though the magnitude of the move was overwhelmingly driven by company-specific news rather than macro tailwinds. Notably, the stock had fallen sharply in the weeks leading up to the report — losing nearly half its value in the prior month alone — meaning the earnings beat triggered a significant short-covering and sentiment-reversal dynamic.

Taken together, the combination of a substantial earnings beat, accelerating B2 Cloud Storage growth, expanding AI customer relationships, and a raised full-year outlook created a powerful multi-catalyst event that drove BLZE sharply higher in pre-market trading, recovering a meaningful portion of its recent losses and pushing the stock well off its 52-week low of $3.26.