Alphabet Cut Its CrowdStrike Stake in Half Before Botched Software Update

A new regulatory filing revealed that Alphabet (GOOGL) cut its stake in CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) in half before the cybersecurity firm’s botched software update last month caused a global IT outage.

Alphabet, the parent of Google, reduced its ownership in CrowdStrike to 427,895 shares as of June 30, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. Last quarter, it held 855,789 shares.

Bad News for CrowdStrike Continued This Week

On Wednesday, Delta Air Lines (DAL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ed Bastian blasted CrowdStrike, saying in an interview that the disruption cost the carrier half a billion dollars over five days, as the airline canceled more than 5,000 flights. Bastian said Delta had “no choice” but to seek damages over the outage.

Earlier this week, the first class-action lawsuit against CrowdStrike was filed in its headquarters city of Austin, Texas, accusing the firm of violating federal securities law, leading to investor losses.

CrowdStrike shares fell more than 3% to $216.74 as of 12:25 p.m. ET Friday. Since the July 19 outage, shares have lost more than a third of their value.