Dan Ives
Technology Analyst & Partner at Yorkville Ives
CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks stand out as AI cyber winners, and the cybersecurity sector is way oversold for the names that will emerge as ultimate winners of the AI arms race. Customer feedback from the RSA Security Conference makes the 'AI Ghost Trade' overhang on cyber one of the most disconnected tech narratives on the Street. AI will disrupt some areas of software, but cybersecurity sits front and center in the tidal wave of AI spending. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Zeta Global, ServiceNow, Datadog and CrowdStrike look increasingly attractive among software names as AI disrupts applications: businesses with proprietary data that build on AI and deliver intelligence and measurable outcomes could win. Cybersecurity valuations remain a concern. x.comÂ
Cybersecurity looks like AI's next major use case, making CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Okta stocks to own now. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said cybersecurity will be a major use case for AI, and that signal from Huang, more than any personal call, is the reason to pay attention to the group. x.com x.com x.comÂ
CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks are at all-time highs despite no real signs that AI is boosting cybersecurity, while Zscaler tumbled as mixed guidance overshadowed strong Q3 results. x.comÂ
CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks benefit from AI because it creates more security problems, so companies will need more advanced cybersecurity, not less. More than half of enterprise AI use happens outside IT oversight. Per JPMorgan, both are in good shape after Anthropic launched its Claude Mythos Preview security tool: instead of competing with them, Anthropic made them partners, which JPMorgan reads as a sign established vendors are essential to AI-driven defense, not replaceable by it. … Show more
AI-powered attacks are spreading so fast that companies are unlikely to cut security budgets, even if they slow broader AI spending. The latest wave hit governments, banks, hospitals, grocery chains and businesses, while AI finds vulnerabilities and breaks in around the clock. That is why Cloudflare, Zscaler, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks rose as broader AI concerns hit tech shares. x.com x.comÂ
CrowdStrike is not worth buying at 40x revenue, and there are very few plausible scenarios in which it is ever worth that multiple. AI is not overhyped, but the argument that massive tech disruption justifies the price echoes 2021, when Covid was said to be changing how people worked. As in 300 years of technological change, there are likely far fewer losers than expected. x.com x.comÂ
Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike are winners from the turmoil around the AI labs, because no one is going to trust one of those labs to defend them. x.comÂ
Cybersecurity stocks have a powerful long-term tailwind because more AI means more complexity, more attack surface and more need for security. CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, Fortinet, Okta and Rubrik moved up strongly premarket after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay arguing the AI industry should slow down, with Anthropic committing to give third-party evaluators permanent access to verify its safety measures. The market may be connecting those dots. x.comÂ
Anthropic and OpenAI's inevitable move into cybersecurity threatens CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks' valuations. They look like the market's biggest bubble stocks right now; CrowdStrike trades at 40x ARR despite 25% growth and negative GAAP EBIT. x.com x.comÂ
These twelve stocks could dominate the next era by meeting infrastructure and consumer demand. TSMC makes AI chips; Palo Alto Networks secures cloud; GE Aerospace earns engine-service revenue; IREN builds AI cloud; Broadcom supplies chips and networking; Intuitive Surgical sells surgical robots. Strategy offers bitcoin exposure; e.l.f. Beauty serves Gen Z; Robinhood expands finance; The Trade Desk serves advertisers; Walmart adds ads and memberships; Vistra powers AI data centers. x.com x.com … Show more
