CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Hit Record Highs as AI Security Demand Lifts Stocks 68% and 88%
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jul 7
CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Hit Record Highs as AI Security Demand Lifts Stocks 68% and 88%
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jul 7
Summary
Intraday records on Monday capped a sharp cybersecurity rally, with CrowdStrike up 68% year to date and Palo Alto Networks up 88% before both eased slightly on Tuesday.
Project Glasswing, unveiled in early April with CrowdStrike and Palo Alto among its initial 11 participants, helped convince investors that cybersecurity is a core enabler of AI adoption rather than ordinary enterprise software.
Executives say AI is expanding attack surfaces and making security spending more essential, especially for agentic systems that grant thousands of digital agents access across enterprise networks.
Unlike memory-chip winners, cyber companies are tied to recurring software revenue rather than hardware shortages, suggesting steadier long-term growth instead of a near-term earnings windfall.
That outlook is reinforced by hyperscalers' projected $750 billion in 2026 AI spending—up more than 80% from 2025—which should widen the market for security tools as AI workloads scale.