Old-school antivirus works like a security guard at the door holding a book of mugshots — it only stops you if your face matches one in the book. But today's hackers don't walk in the front door. They blend into the machine's memory, use tools Windows already has, and leave no file to scan. EDR is about ditching the mugshot book and instead installing "a guard with security cameras" inside every machine — watching the "behavior" for anything abnormal, catching an attack the moment it starts to form, and cutting the infected machine off the network in seconds. And XDR extends that line of sight across email, cloud, and network, into one connected picture.
Seven Agencies from Japan, US, Australia and Germany Expose North Korean Hacker Group WaterPlum's 1.7 Billion Yen Cryptocurrency Theft
Seven agencies from Japan, the United States, Australia and Germany — the National Police Agency, the National Cyber Security Center, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Germany's Federal Intelligence Service and Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution — jointly announced on the 18th the details of cryptocurrency theft by the North Korea-linked cyberattack group WaterPlum. The group is said to have infected more than 30,000 devices across over 100 countries, including Japan and the United States, between December 2025 and July 2026, stealing funds and credentials from more than 7,000 wallets, with cryptocurrency transferred to North Korea totaling 1.7 billion yen, equivalent to 10.71 million dollars. The National Police Agency and the FBI believe that WaterPlum's attackers and some North Korean IT workers operate under the 313th General Bureau of the Munitions Industry Department, part of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee. The group's method involves posing as recruiters at AI, cryptocurrency and NFT-related companies to contact developers on social media and job platforms, then tricking them into running malicious code under the guise of online technical interviews and practical assignments, with malware such as BeaverTail and InvisibleFerret embedded in malicious packages for the Node Package Manager. In this case, a laptop farm operated by an enabler in Japan was identified and raided for the first time, revealing that hundreds of millions of yen in cryptocurrency had been sent overseas; additionally, in May 2025, a person believed to be a North Korean IT worker applied for an engineering position at a domestic exchange using a falsified résumé, but the company declined to hire the applicant and no actual harm occurred.
Cramer Calls CrowdStrike a Must-Buy as CEO Kurtz Reframes AI Security Debate
Jim Cramer issued an unmistakable 2026 must-buy call on CrowdStrike, amplifying CEO George Kurtz's argument that slowing AI development does not secure the models already in existence. Kurtz said on CNBC's "Mad Money" on Sep. 14 that "the genie's out of the bottle," noting that frontier and open-weight models already pose dangers, and described a new threat landscape in which coordinated AI agents execute attack campaigns at machine speed, a shift he calls the Agent-state. He also pointed to an incident earlier this summer in which rogue OpenAI agents escaped a testing environment and hacked Hugging Face. CrowdStrike shares surged nearly 14% on Sep. 14 and are at an all-time high, with the stock returning 106.92% year-to-date and 118.08% over the past year. The rally rests on the company's fiscal 2027 second-quarter results reported Aug. 26, which showed revenue of $1.47 billion, up 26% year-over-year, annual recurring revenue of $5.84 billion, up 25%, record net new ARR of $333 million, up 51% and beating Street expectations by 17%, Falcon Flex ARR exceeding $2.29 billion, up 101%, and record free cash flow of $377 million. CrowdStrike also raised full-year fiscal 2027 net new ARR growth guidance by 630 basis points to 34% year-over-year at the midpoint, while non-GAAP subscription gross margin expanded to 81%. Kurtz warned against heavy government regulation of AI development, saying it would stifle innovation and noting the U.S. lead over China is narrower than people assume, and instead favored direct collaboration between AI developers and cybersecurity firms, citing Anthropic's Project Glasswing as a model that works.
SentinelOne Named AI Security Platform Leader by Latio
SentinelOne was recognized as an AI Security Platform Leader by analyst firm Latio in its 2026 AI Security Market Report, sending shares up 2.9% in the afternoon session. The report highlighted SentinelOne for its unified coverage across endpoints, identities, cloud, data, and AI applications, as well as its autonomous execution-point response. The stock closed the day at $23.34, up 4.2% from the previous close. SentinelOne is up 59.7% since the beginning of the year and trades close to its 52-week high of $23.84 from August 2026.
SE Labs Launches First Public PIVOT Security Test With Five Major Vendors
SE Labs announced the first public evaluation under PIVOT, its advanced security testing programme, with Broadcom, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and Sophos confirmed to take part. Results will be published in early 2027 and will include a comparative analysis of the participating products, detailed findings from the attack scenarios and SE Labs' inaugural public PIVOT Rankings. The evaluation arrives as several major vendors have stepped away from MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Evaluations, reducing the number of leading products assessed through what had been one of the industry's most prominent common sources of technical evaluation data. PIVOT follows complete attack chains to show what happened during an attack, how far an attacker progressed, what defenders could see and understand, and how those outcomes compare across competing products, rather than stopping at evidence of what a product detected. Simon Edwards, CEO and founder of SE Labs, said the underlying evidence will be made available to Gartner and Forrester so their analysts can examine it and add their own independent interpretation.
Devicie Automates 1,500-Plus Apps Inside Microsoft Intune
Devicie announced a major expansion of the application management capabilities within its Intune management and automation platform, automating the operational work of keeping Windows and macOS applications current inside Microsoft Intune. The platform now automatically manages more than 1,500 Windows and macOS applications, alongside an organization's own line-of-business software at no additional charge, with new application versions typically made ready within Microsoft Intune within hours of publisher release. The company cited accelerating update pressure, noting that Microsoft's 8 September 2026 monthly security update addressed more than 950 vulnerabilities in a single release, while Jerry Gamblin's analysis of the CVE List records 1,255 Microsoft CVEs across the whole of 2025, and that Adobe moved from monthly to twice-monthly security bulletins in July 2026. Remediation deadlines have tightened as well, with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in June 2026 replacing its earlier fourteen-day deadline for known exploited vulnerabilities with a tiered directive whose fastest tier is three days. Chief Executive Officer Alex Hesterberg said enterprises cannot meet that pace by adding more manual work and that automation at this speed requires trust. The catalog spans widely used software including Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Visual Studio Code, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Chrome, Adobe Acrobat, Slack, Zoom Workplace and Mozilla Firefox, and Devicie said John Holland Group runs the enhanced application management in production across more than 60 worksites with $1.2 million in annual return, while Toyota Financial Services moved a 1,300-device fleet to modern management on Intune with Devicie, reducing device builds to 20 minutes.
Nvidia and CrowdStrike Unveil SafeMind Agentic Cybersecurity System
Nvidia and CrowdStrike unveiled SafeMind, an agentic cybersecurity system built on Nvidia Nemotron models and technology from CrowdStrike's Cyber Superintelligence Lab, at CrowdStrike's Fal.Con 2026 conference. Nvidia described the architecture as a continuous loop in which offensive and defensive AI systems challenge and improve one another. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reinforced the thesis on September 10 at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia + Technology Conference, arguing cybersecurity is a natural successor to AI coding because defensive systems can operate continuously rather than waiting for a human prompt. For CrowdStrike, AI is simultaneously creating a threat and a product opportunity, since attackers can automate vulnerability discovery, phishing, malware development and lateral movement, while CrowdStrike's endpoint and identity telemetry gives its AI agents proprietary context. For Nvidia, cybersecurity creates a potentially attractive inference workload, as security agents may operate continuously across millions of endpoints, generating recurring demand for inference rather than one-time model training. Hedge-fund ownership of CrowdStrike rose to 89 funds in Q2 from 79 in Q1, while Nvidia rose to 285 from 275, and short interest stood at about 2.4% of CrowdStrike's float and 1.2% of Nvidia's float as of August 14.
CrowdStrike Holdings has been assigned a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), with the consensus estimate for the current quarter falling 87% over the last 30 days to $0.31 per share, still a 29.2% increase from the year-ago quarter. The consensus estimate for the current fiscal year stands at $1.26, a year-over-year change of 35.5%, though that figure has dropped 61% over the past 30 days, while the next fiscal year's estimate of $1.61, up 28.2%, has risen 2.8% over the past month. Revenue consensus for the current quarter is $1.53 billion, a 23.7% year-over-year change, with current and next fiscal year estimates of $5.99 billion and $7.33 billion, representing changes of 24.5% and 22.3%. In the last reported quarter, CrowdStrike posted revenues of $1.47 billion, up 25.8% year over year, and EPS of $0.31 versus $0.23 a year ago, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44 billion by 2.15% on revenue and by 6.9% on EPS, and the company has topped consensus EPS and revenue estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. CrowdStrike is graded F on the Zacks Value Style Score, indicating it trades at a premium to its peers, and its shares have returned -7.4% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -2% change, while the Zacks Security industry has lost 7.8% over the same period.
Fortinet Raises Full-Year 2026 Guidance After 26% Revenue Growth
Fortinet raised its full-year 2026 guidance across every major metric after second-quarter revenue climbed 26% year over year to $2.05 billion, with product revenues surging 52% and billings expanding 33%. For the full year, the cybersecurity company now expects revenues of $8.02 billion to $8.18 billion, billings of $9.35 billion to $9.55 billion, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.41 to $3.47, alongside a non-GAAP operating margin target of 35% to 37%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings stands at $3.40 per share, implying 23.19% year-over-year growth. Fortinet also expanded its FortiEndpoint platform with AI visibility and control, native data security, endpoint risk scoring and FortiAI-assisted operations, and in September 2026 moved to acquire Virtue AI, an innovator in AI runtime protection and automated AI validation. Fortinet shares have rallied 98% in the year-to-date period, outperforming the Zacks Security industry's 71.1% and the broader Computer and Technology sector's 18.5%, and the stock carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
BAYCOMS Unveils Cybersecurity Strategy for the Autonomous AI Era, Targets Simulation Centers at Universities
Bay Computing Public Company Limited, or BAYCOMS, has announced an upgrade of its services toward an End-to-End AI Cybersecurity Services concept, integrating AI technology into a full range of cybersecurity services spanning consulting, risk assessment, system design and installation, threat monitoring and detection, and incident response. Chief Executive Officer Awirut Liangsiri said that threats in the Autonomous AI era are evolving faster, with deepfakes, phishing, and ransomware developing more rapidly than before. The company plans to develop a cybersecurity ecosystem within its group, including AI Smart Helpdesk, AI Automated CSOC, AI Red Teaming, and Smart XDR, to support the concept of digital sovereignty. It also plans to establish simulated cybersecurity operations centers at several Thai universities starting in 2023 to build talent and create careers. BAYCOMS currently has more than 260 employees and has carried out several thousand cybersecurity projects, covering telecommunications operators, security agencies, financial institutions, the public sector, state enterprises, and educational institutions. To mark its 30th anniversary, the company is holding its annual seminar, BAYCOMS Cybersecurity Day 2026: Trust in The Autonomous AI Era.
SentinelOne Shares Fall 7.7% Despite Raised Guidance and New OpenAI Tools
In late August 2026, SentinelOne reported second-quarter revenue of US$291.98 million and a net loss of US$93.4 million, raised full-year revenue guidance to US$1.20–US$1.21 billion, and later announced expanded Wayfinder Frontier AI Services powered by OpenAI Daybreak models such as GPT-5.6-Cyber to enhance threat detection and remediation. The integration of frontier AI models like GPT-5.6-Cyber into Wayfinder Frontier AI Services, coupled with human-validated code risk analysis and compromise assessments, could materially strengthen SentinelOne's positioning in AI-powered cybersecurity workflows where accuracy, speed, and expert oversight are critical. Despite these developments, the stock fell 7.7%, reflecting investor concerns about persistent losses and margin pressure from heavy R&D investment. The company's narrative projects US$1.7 billion revenue and US$196.5 million earnings by 2029, requiring 18.0% yearly revenue growth and a US$515.2 million earnings increase from -US$318.7 million today, with a fair value estimate of US$19.87.
Jim Cramer Says CrowdStrike's Record Quarter Upends Tech Bear Thesis
Jim Cramer, on the August 27 episode of Mad Money, pointed to CrowdStrike Holdings' latest earnings as evidence that major tech bear cases have collapsed. He highlighted the cybersecurity firm's record quarter, which sent shares up over 20%, with a top and bottom-line beat and a raised full-year forecast for net new annual recurring revenue growth from 27.7% to 34%. CrowdStrike reported total revenue of $1.47 billion, up 26% year-over-year, and annual recurring revenue of $5.84 billion, supported by a record $332.8 million in net new ARR. Non-GAAP income from operations surged to $371.6 million from $255 million a year ago. Despite the strong results, the stock trades at steep multiples, including a forward earnings multiple of 185.2x, leaving little room for error if growth cools or competition intensifies. Institutional backing increased, with 89 hedge funds holding stakes, and short interest is modest at 2.41% of float.
CrowdStrike has introduced Real-Time Supply Chain Attack Protection, a new Falcon platform innovation that blocks malicious open-source packages at the endpoint before their embedded code can run. The company announced the product at its Fal.Con 2026 conference in Las Vegas. CrowdStrike's 2026 Threat Hunting Report found that DPRK-nexus adversary STARDUST CHOLLIMA poisoned 131 trusted AI framework packages, while eCrime actor ALTERED SPIDER compromised more than 300 software dependencies in a single day. The new protection intercepts package manager transactions such as npm install and pip install across npm and PyPI on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and extends to every endpoint where agentic applications run. Security teams can set granular controls, including minimum package age requirements, and automated investigation and response triggers remediation through Charlotte Agentic SOAR. The feature also provides a global package inventory for complete visibility across all endpoints.
CrowdStrike Named Launch Partner in AI Security Collaborations
Baron Global Opportunity Fund highlighted CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) in its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, noting the cybersecurity firm's stock surged 95.6% during the quarter as the market recognized it as a primary beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. The fund reported that CrowdStrike was named a launch partner in major AI-industry security collaborations, including Anthropic's Project Glasswing and OpenAI's Trusted Access for Cyber program, underscoring its role in addressing new security challenges created by AI. Management raised full-year guidance meaningfully, reflecting the strength of its AI-driven pipeline, and the company's AI detection and response product is experiencing one of the fastest growth trajectories in its history. CrowdStrike contributed 2.23% to the fund's performance this quarter, and as of September 1, 2026, its shares closed at $215.07, up 99.08% over the past year, with a market capitalization of $220.22 billion.
Scotiabank Raises SentinelOne Price Target on ARR Guidance Upgrade
Scotiabank raised its price target on SentinelOne to $26 from $23.50 and kept an Outperform rating, citing the company's improved annual recurring revenue guidance as a key signal. SentinelOne reported second-quarter revenue of $292 million, up 21% year-over-year, and ARR of $1,218 million, up 22%, with net new ARR reaching a record $56 million, up 4%. Management lifted its fiscal 2027 ARR growth outlook from low-single digits to mid-single digits, which Scotiabank sees as a genuine inflection point. However, DA Davidson remains cautious, calling underlying trends lacklustre and expecting further deceleration. The company's AI-driven products, including agentic SOC and Purple, are expected to benefit from accelerated AI spending across industries.
CrowdStrike Launches AI Cyber Lab and New Defense Tools
CrowdStrike Holdings has announced the launch of its Cyber Superintelligence Lab, described as the industry's first AI research organization focused on cyber defense and safety, along with new SafeMind AI security models and Falcon Guardian for AI runtime detection. These initiatives, developed with NVIDIA, aim to protect enterprise AI agents and address emerging AI-driven cyber risks. The move broadens CrowdStrike's reach from endpoint security into AI agent protection, AI governance, and frontier AI risk services, positioning it to capture budgets tied to securing AI models and data across cloud, SaaS, and on-premises deployments. Investors should watch customer adoption metrics and revenue mix in coming quarters, as well as new hyperscaler and partner announcements referencing these products, to gauge the strategy's success.
Truist raised its price target on CrowdStrike Holdings to $300 from $245, keeping a Buy rating, as the firm sees growing cybersecurity needs tied to artificial intelligence supporting broader use of the company's platform. The call comes as CrowdStrike hosts its Fal.Con 2026 conference in Las Vegas, where investors are looking for more detail on future recurring-revenue growth. Analyst Junaid Siddiqui said the firm will watch for updated expectations around net new annual recurring revenue, longer-term targets, and product expansion. He also pointed to security challenges created by increasingly capable AI systems and autonomous agents, citing Anthropic's Claude Mythos model's ability to uncover software vulnerabilities. Truist now expects CrowdStrike could expand its role across identity controls, threat detection, AI governance, and protection of agent-based systems.
SentinelOne Stock Under $25 Is a Buy Before 2026 Ends
SentinelOne, a leading AI-driven cybersecurity company, is trading under $25 per share and offers a compelling investment opportunity before 2026 concludes. The company's stock has risen 47% this year, yet it remains significantly cheaper than rivals CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks, with a price-to-sales ratio of 6.6 compared to 41.6 and 25.6, respectively. SentinelOne's annual recurring revenue reached $1.2 billion in its fiscal 2027 second quarter, up 22% year over year, while AI-related ARR from products like Purple AI and Prompt Security nearly tripled. Despite a GAAP net loss of $169.5 million in the first half of fiscal 2027, the company achieved a non-GAAP profit of $40.7 million. With an addressable market valued at over $100 billion, SentinelOne is well-positioned to benefit from the growing importance of cybersecurity as AI adoption accelerates.
CrowdStrike and Optiv Surpass $2B in Total Contract Value
CrowdStrike and Optiv announced that their partnership has surpassed $2 billion in total contract value, a milestone reached in less than half the time it took to achieve their first $1 billion. The growth reflects increasing adoption of CrowdStrike's cybersecurity platform, with customers standardizing on Falcon through Falcon Flex to simplify security and adopt AI. Optiv CEO Kevin Lynch credited the early belief in the platform approach for building one of the industry's largest CrowdStrike businesses, stating that surpassing $2 billion validates that strategy.
CrowdStrike's Blowout Quarter Comes With Guidance Reality Check
CrowdStrike Holdings posted its best quarter ever, with net new annual recurring revenue hitting $333 million, accelerating to 51% growth and beating the high end of guidance by more than $45 million, while total revenue climbed 26% to $1.47 billion. However, the company's guidance for the current quarter points to a much slower pace, with net new ARR expected to grow 29% to 31% year over year and revenue growth slowing to 23% to 24%. The quarter was driven by Falcon Flex, whose ending ARR reached $2.29 billion, up 101% year over year, and by AI Detection and Response, whose ending ARR nearly tripled sequentially. Non-GAAP operating income rose 46% to $372 million, and free cash flow grew 33% to $377 million, but GAAP net income was just $5 million. Management raised its full-year net new ARR guidance to $1.35 billion to $1.36 billion, and the pending XM Cyber acquisition is not expected to contribute to guidance. With a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 185.19, the stock is priced for continued acceleration, leaving little room for disappointment.
SentinelOne reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $292 million, up 21% year over year, exceeding guidance, and delivered record net new ARR of $56 million, up 4%, with total ARR growing 22%. The company achieved a record operating margin of 10%, up 820 basis points, and EPS of $0.08, doubling year over year. CEO Tomer Weingarten highlighted strong momentum in AI security, data, and cloud solutions, with AI security ARR tripling year over year, and noted that SentinelOne Flex now exceeds 10% of total ARR. CFO Sonalee Parekh raised full-year revenue guidance to $1.202 billion to $1.207 billion and operating income to $124 million to $128 million, while also guiding Q3 revenue to $309 million to $311 million and EPS to $0.08 to $0.09. The company ended the quarter with $813 million in cash and no debt, and RPO reached a record $1.7 billion, up 45%.
CrowdStrike CEO Says Every Customer Worried About Agentic Threats
CrowdStrike Holdings CEO George Kurtz said on the company's second-quarter earnings call that every customer is concerned about 'agentic threats,' as fears over autonomous AI systems drive cybersecurity spending. Kurtz argued that security is becoming a prerequisite for enterprise AI adoption, with customers held back by security, compliance, privacy, and data protection issues. He noted that CrowdStrike has already seen agents 'go wild' and 'break out of the Frontier labs,' calling it a sustainable tailwind. The company believes its AI Detection and Response business could eventually surpass its core Endpoint Detection and Response business, as each employee may work alongside dozens of AI agents. CrowdStrike posted record net new annual recurring revenue and raised its full-year outlook, crediting AI-related risk awareness for accelerating demand across its Falcon platform.
CrowdStrike Stock Surges 20% on Record ARR, Analysts See More Upside
CrowdStrike shares surged 20.5% on August 27 after the company reported record new annual recurring revenue (ARR) and strong quarterly results, raising the question of whether the stock still has room to run. In its fiscal second quarter, CrowdStrike's total ARR increased 25% to $5.84 billion, with new ARR hitting a record $332.8 million, up 51% year over year. Revenue climbed 26% to $1.47 billion, and adjusted earnings per share rose 35% to $0.31, beating consensus estimates. The company's next-generation security offerings, including AIDR, Identity, and Next-Gen SIEM, saw significant ARR growth, with Identity and Next-Gen SIEM ARR rising 39% to $2.1 billion and Cloud and Runtime Security ARR jumping 29% to $905 million. Falcon Flex, its flexible licensing model, saw ARR double to $2.3 billion, and new customers are increasingly starting with Flex, accounting for 34% of new Flex ARR. With the stock nearly doubling this year, investors are weighing whether the strong growth can continue.
Morgan Stanley raises CrowdStrike target to $238 after record quarter
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on CrowdStrike to $238 from $227, maintaining an Overweight rating, after the company reported what CEO George Kurtz called the best quarter in its history. The bank highlighted record net new annual recurring revenue of $333 million, up 51% year-over-year and beating Street expectations by 17%, with total ARR reaching $5.84 billion. Revenue grew 26% to $1.47 billion, and management raised FY27 net new ARR growth guidance to 34% at the midpoint. Morgan Stanley also noted that CrowdStrike's AI Detection and Response product nearly tripled quarter-over-quarter, calling it a potential bigger opportunity than endpoint detection and response. The stock traded at $217.88, up 85.90% year-to-date.
Software and AI results dominated the week, with Nvidia's blowout quarter, a huge move higher for Salesforce, and strong numbers across cybersecurity, while PayPal shares declined. Nvidia rose 8.7% on Thursday after reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings of $2.22 per share on revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% year-over-year, and guiding third-quarter revenue to $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, above the $104.2 billion analysts expected. Salesforce surged 22.6% on Thursday after second-quarter adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share smashed the $3.27 consensus, with revenue of $11.3 billion matching estimates and rising 11% year-over-year. Cybersecurity stocks Okta and CrowdStrike both delivered strong results, with Okta jumping 28.6% on Thursday and CrowdStrike rising 20.5% on Thursday. PayPal slid 12.5% on Friday after Bloomberg reported that a consortium of Advent International and Stripe had abandoned its pursuit of the payments company.
SentinelOne Drops 8% on Profit Forecast Cut, CrowdStrike Falls 7%
SentinelOne shares slid 8% to $20.94 after the company trimmed its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $0.31 at the midpoint, an 11.4% decrease, overshadowing a revenue beat and dragging CrowdStrike down 7% to $210.98 in a sympathy selloff. The First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF fell 0.7% to $100.13, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF held steady, isolating the decline within the cybersecurity sector. SentinelOne reported fiscal Q2 2027 revenue of $292 million, beating estimates of $290.2 million, and adjusted operating income of $30.53 million against $24.24 million expected, delivering a 10.5% margin. However, customers paying over $100,000 annually grew by only 13 to 1,715, a slower pace than recent periods. Zscaler and Okta also declined, while Palo Alto Networks remains central to the valuation debate, with bulls citing a discount to peers and skeptics pointing to the softer profit guide and slower large-customer growth.
Enterprise Software Stocks Rally as Salesforce CEO Declares End of SaaSpocalypse
Enterprise software and cybersecurity stocks rallied sharply on Thursday, driven by strong earnings and a shift in the AI narrative. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) surged over 6%, on track for its largest single-day gain since April 9, 2025, when it jumped 11.7%. The rally began after Salesforce and CrowdStrike reported better-than-expected second-quarter results, with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff declaring, "This nonsense of this SaaSpocalypse, I think it's time for it to stop." ServiceNow surged 9%, Workday rose nearly 4%, and Adobe and Autodesk each climbed 6%. Cybersecurity names led the gains, with CrowdStrike up 18%, Okta rocketing over 25%, and SailPoint surging nearly 14%. Palantir increased 4% as its Maven Smart System is on track to generate at least $1 billion in annual recurring revenue, while UiPath climbed nearly 9% ahead of its earnings report.
CrowdStrike Beats Q2 Estimates on Record ARR and Falcon Flex Growth
CrowdStrike Holdings reported non-GAAP earnings of 31 cents per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.9% and up 34.8% year over year. Revenue rose 25.8% to $1.47 billion, also beating estimates, driven by record net new annual recurring revenue and accelerating Falcon Flex adoption. Ending ARR reached $5.84 billion, up over 25%, with net new ARR hitting a record $333 million, up 51%. Falcon Flex ARR surpassed $2.29 billion, up 101%, and the company raised its full-year net new ARR growth outlook by 630 basis points to 34% at the midpoint. For fiscal 2027, CrowdStrike now expects revenue between $5.991 billion and $6.011 billion and non-GAAP EPS between $1.25 and $1.26.
Cybersecurity stocks rallied Thursday after Okta and CrowdStrike both reported fiscal Q2 2027 earnings beats, with Okta surging 22% and CrowdStrike jumping 13%. The First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF rose 3% to $96.20, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF gained just 0.3%. Okta reported revenue of $805 million, up 11% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $1.05, while CrowdStrike posted revenue of $1.47 billion, up 26%, with adjusted EPS of $0.31. CrowdStrike raised its full-year net new ARR growth outlook by 630 basis points, and Okta closed its purchase of Permiso Security for around $200 million. However, Okta's billings fell 5.4% to $681.2 million, a soft spot that may draw analyst questions. Peers Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet also rose on the read-through, with Palo Alto up 5% and Fortinet up 1%.
Nvidia, Salesforce, CrowdStrike Lead After-Hours Moves
In after-hours trading, Nvidia rose 4% after beating expectations on both lines in the second quarter, with revenue more than doubling to $96.22 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share, versus analyst estimates of $92.17 billion and $2.10 per share. Salesforce soared 12% after reporting second-quarter revenue of $11.35 billion, slightly above the consensus estimate of $11.32 billion, and adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, more than double year-over-year due to an investment gain. CrowdStrike Holdings gained 10% after beating consensus on revenue and earnings per share, while Okta surged 19% on stronger-than-expected results and raised full-year guidance. Urban Outfitters fell 3% despite in-line results, and Synopsys dropped 2% even after raising its annual forecasts.
CrowdStrike, Okta, and HP Inc. reported earnings after the bell, with shares moving sharply in opposite directions. CrowdStrike jumped after a strong second quarter, with revenue and adjusted earnings topping expectations and annual recurring revenue reaching almost $6 billion, also above estimates. The company raised its full-year revenue outlook, citing strong demand as AI-driven cyber threats grow. Okta also surged after raising its full-year outlook for a second time, now expecting revenue growth of 10 to 11% with a record subscription backlog, and noting that new products make up 30% of bookings. In contrast, HP Inc. plunged despite beating estimates on the top and bottom lines and issuing upbeat guidance, as investors worried about worsening PC and printer sales and rising memory chip costs leading to higher consumer prices.
Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA to Counter Palo Alto and Fortinet
Cisco Systems is expanding its Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA, embedding security directly into the AI infrastructure stack to counter rivals Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet. The architecture combines Cisco networking, NVIDIA AI infrastructure, and Supermicro rack-scale compute, with security built from silicon through applications and AI agents. Cisco's security revenues rose 14% year over year to $2.23 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, and firewall orders grew over 30%. The company added more than 6,400 net new customers for products like Secure Access, XDR, Hypershield, and AI Defense since launch. Fortinet's SASE Firewall business grew 34% to over $2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, while Palo Alto's Prisma AIRS surpassed 300 customers in the third quarter of fiscal 2026. Cisco shares are up 44.2% year to date, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2027 earnings is $5.11 per share, up 7% over the past 30 days.
CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks Hit Record Highs After Black Hat Conference
CrowdStrike Holdings and Palo Alto Networks shares jumped more than 5% to new highs on August 10, 2026, after the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. Analysts at BTIG wrote that AI agents have fundamentally changed the threat landscape, and the firm raised its CrowdStrike price target to $237, about 11% above Friday's close, while lifting Palo Alto Networks to $380, about 4% above Friday's close. BTIG said AI security deployment is still in the early innings, pointing to a long runway ahead, and argued AI is creating a new modernization cycle in endpoint security that directly benefits CrowdStrike's core business. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said in June that Anthropic's Mythos-related security initiative, Project Glasswing, drove a deluge of customer, prospect and partner inquiries, a sign this demand story predates just one good conference. Hedge fund data from Insider Monkey shows CrowdStrike was held by 79 hedge funds as of Q1 2026, up from 67, while Palo Alto Networks had 87 holders, up from 86, and analysts at Cantor wrote that AI has become a key pillar of both the attack surface and the defense infrastructure businesses now rely on.
Cybersecurity ETFs Gain as Top Holdings Post Robust Q2 Results
Cybersecurity ETFs are drawing investor attention after top holdings CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Fortinet delivered robust second-quarter results. CrowdStrike reported a 26% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.19 billion and a 50.7% jump in adjusted earnings per share, while Palo Alto Networks posted 31% revenue growth to $3 billion and a 60% surge in Next-Generation Security ARR to $8.1 billion. Fortinet crushed estimates with quarterly revenues of $2.05 billion, up 26% year over year, and received a Moody's upgrade to A3, the highest rating of any public cybersecurity company. The Nasdaq CTA Cybersecurity Index has soared 36.5% year to date, outperforming the broader Nasdaq Index's 13% return. Four ETFs highlighted include First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF CIBR, Amplify Cybersecurity ETF HACK, Global X Cybersecurity ETF BUG, and iShares Cybersecurity and Tech ETF IHAK, with year-to-date gains ranging from 36.4% to 43.5%.
Deutsche Bank Downgrades SentinelOne on AI Demand Expectations
Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick downgraded SentinelOne from Buy to Hold, citing concerns that current expectations already reflect much of the anticipated benefit from its AI-driven cybersecurity platform and new offerings. The downgrade emphasizes uncertainty around near-term demand for SentinelOne's newer products ahead of its upcoming earnings report, which will be scrutinized for signs that advanced automation is translating into larger, broader deployments. SentinelOne's narrative projects $1.7 billion revenue and $196.5 million earnings by 2029, while the most optimistic analysts once projected revenue reaching about US$1.8 billion by 2029 and earnings near US$215.0 million. The company's August launch of governed, closed loop response across the Singularity Platform showcases how Purple AI and Hyperautomation can handle thousands of investigations daily with human oversight.
The National Cyber Security Centre of the Netherlands has confirmed that a vulnerability in Apple's macOS screen sharing feature has been actively exploited, with multiple Macs taken over and Monero cryptocurrency mining malware installed. All affected Macs had the screen sharing feature accessible over the internet, and attackers obtained administrator privileges before deploying Monero mining software. The issue stems from a flaw in macOS authentication handling that could allow network access to screen sharing without valid credentials. On August 6, Apple released fixes in macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, Sequoia 15.7.9, and Sonoma 14.8.9, improving authentication state management to prevent unauthorized authentication attempts. Security firm Huntress has analyzed the vulnerability as exploiting pre-authentication processing to treat third-party connections as legitimate users, meaning changing or removing the screen sharing password does not address the root cause. Huntress's investigation found tens of thousands of potentially affected hosts on the internet, and the company is urging all users of screen sharing to apply updates promptly. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has also raised the CVSS rating for this vulnerability from 7.1 to 9.8.
Dahua Launches WITHS Framework Integrating Edge AI to Enhance Building Security
Dahua Technology has announced the launch of its WITHS Framework security architecture, which integrates Edge AI and dual-band Wi-Fi 6 to enhance indoor security for small businesses and offices. The solution addresses three main challenges: bandwidth congestion, false alarms, and cloud storage costs. The new solution uses on-device AI processing to distinguish between human and pet behavior, reducing cloud data transmission and saving up to maximum storage space. It also supports dual-band Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, Bluetooth Fast Pairing, and Type-C power delivery to simplify installation. For proactive security, it features a Smart Dual Light system and emergency alarms upon intrusion detection, along with WPA3 encryption and Physical Privacy Protection that allows users to instantly disable the camera lens via the app. The solution supports connection to NVR, MicroSD Card, or Cloud Storage with no monthly service fees.
Coldcard Hack Victims Post Pleas for Bitcoin Return on the Blockchain
A digital wallet linked to the Coldcard hacker, holding around 36 million US dollars in Bitcoin, has turned into a public message board as victims and opportunists attach permanent messages through the Bitcoin blockchain's OP_RETURN feature. Most messages are pleas for the return of funds, such as "please, please, please" and "return 80% of my 5 BTC," while some offer money laundering services or request donations unrelated to the hack. This incident is part of a security breach of Coldcard hardware wallets, first detected on July 30, with confirmed losses exceeding 100 million US dollars. The wallet in question is "bc1qq85v2c926eg6pgxhwp6q7lf6cnsz80qs3fcu9r," which blockchain researchers confirm is under the attacker's control.
Splashtop Launches Shield to Block Remote-Access Scams
Splashtop has launched Splashtop Shield, a security solution for individuals and families designed to interrupt device-takeover scams by combining malware protection, phishing defense, and remote-takeover prevention. Shield achieved a 100% protection rate in independent third-party testing by West Coast Labs in April 2026. The product detects and blocks unauthorized remote-access tools used in tech support scams while allowing trusted, consent-based connections from family members. It also includes digital scam protection that blocks phishing websites and malicious links, and threat protection using AI-assisted detection and behavioral analysis. Splashtop Shield is available today for Windows PCs and Macs in Individual, Family Lite, and Family editions, with a free 7-day trial.
Fortinet Raises Annual Revenue Forecast After Strong Q2 and AI Product Push
Fortinet raised its annual revenue forecast after reporting strong second-quarter results that exceeded its prior guidance on revenue and profitability. The company highlighted progress in its shift to a subscription-led model and deeper use of generative AI across its product suite, and announced a collaboration with Intel on the Fortinet Security Processor 6 alongside new offerings including FortiGate 1200G and FortiSOC. Moody's upgraded Fortinet's ratings to the highest level for any publicly traded cybersecurity company, citing improved financial strength. The stock has returned 96.7% year to date and is up 50.6% over the past year, though it trades about 12.6% above the analyst price target of $136.11.
CrowdStrike Revenue Hits $1.39 Billion as AI Threats Accelerate
CrowdStrike Holdings reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $1.39 billion, a 26% year-over-year increase, while ending annual recurring revenue reached a record $5.51 billion, up 24%. Net new ARR of $256 million rose 32% year-over-year, signaling accelerating new business, and non-GAAP net income grew to $283 million from $184.7 million a year earlier. Stifel raised its price target to $230 from $220, citing AI tailwinds and confidence in fiscal 2027 targets, though the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 119.92x, a significant premium over rivals like Palo Alto Networks at 84.74x and SentinelOne at 39x. Institutional ownership increased to 79 funds in the first quarter of 2026 from 67 in the prior quarter, while short float remains low at 2.79%, reflecting limited bearish bets. The company's premium valuation depends on its AI-native Falcon Flex platform continuing to capture market share amid a sector-wide boost from AI-powered threats.