CMS Invests
Technology Investor, Options Trader, Finance at Kalshi
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
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
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
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
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
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
Cloudflare has three AI-driven trends working in its favor. AI will uncover more vulnerabilities; protection against more AI bots, agents and crawlers is needed; and its developer platform, including Workers, is becoming the default for agent-related development. CrowdStrike is not a favorite. x.comÂ
Cybersecurity may be the next big AI trade, because AI agents create a whole new attack surface. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says the threat is now autonomous campaigns at machine speed, and each agent becomes a privileged identity needing least-privilege access and a kill switch, pushing security into runtime infrastructure. CrowdStrike, Palo Alto and Zscaler are in a land grab. CrowdStrike's 15 years of telemetry can't be copied, making its Threat Graph a network effect. x.comÂ
An open letter from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and 100+ organizations urging a global surge in cyber defense is a demand signal, telling every board to make security an immediate priority. CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, Fortinet, SentinelOne, Okta, Cloudflare, Tenable, Rubrik and Akamai are positioned to benefit most. Nine of them signed the letter, and Rubrik sells resilience for attacks that get through. Palo Alto's next-gen security ARR grew 60%, and Rubrik's revenue 46%. … Show more
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
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
