Crowdstrike, Palo Alto Networks, and cybersecurity stocks post strong weekly gains after AI freak-out moment
Cybersecurity stocks surged this week amid heightened AI risk warnings from industry leaders. Despite a Friday pullback, CrowdStrike gained 15%, SailPoint also rose 15%, Palo Alto Networks advanced 10%, and Okta climbed 9%. The First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) added 5%.
Investors appear to be betting that companies will accelerate spending on defenses as AI capabilities expand and threat actors exploit the same technology. Okta co-founder and CEO Todd McKinnon noted that adversaries are actively using AI models and that demand for identity security is surging, with “the phone ringing off the hook.”
The gains followed stark public comments from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who argued for slowing the pace of AI capability advances so safety measures can keep up, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who expressed agreement. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reinforced the caution at Dreamforce, warning that AI must not become “social media 2.0” given past societal harms. A worrisome week for broader AI safety concerns translated into a strong week for cybersecurity investors.