AI Was Supposed to Disrupt Cybersecurity. Wedbush Says These 2 Stocks Will Win

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) remain two of Wedbush's favorite cybersecurity stocks, as the firm sees AI becoming a major growth driver for the industry. Wedbush raised its price target on Palo Alto to $300 from $225 and lifted its CrowdStrike target to $700 from $550. The firm, led by five-star analyst Daniel Ives, said that its recent field checks strengthened its view that AI will help top cybersecurity vendors instead of hurting them.

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Wedbush also noted that 8 out of every 10 customers it spoke with believe that established cybersecurity companies with the right products and AI strategy will be the long-term winners. For Palo Alto, the firm pointed to the completed CyberArk acquisition, now rebranded as Idira, as a major advantage. In Wedbush's view, that deal gives Palo Alto a broader platform for network, cloud, and identity security. It also strengthens the company's position as identity and AI security become bigger priorities for enterprises.

Interestingly, CrowdStrike remains a key beneficiary as well, according to Wedbush, after what the firm described as a record Fiscal 2026. The analysts said that CrowdStrike has become the first pure-play cybersecurity vendor to pass several major milestones, which reinforces its position as one of the leading names in the space. More importantly, Wedbush sees Charlotte AI, agentic security operations, and AI Detection and Response helping make CrowdStrike's Falcon platform critical for companies trying to secure AI across everything from GPUs to agents and prompts.

Which Cybersecurity Stock Is the Better Buy?

Overall, out of the two stocks mentioned above, analysts think that PANW stock has more room to run than CRWD. In fact, PANW's average price target of $249.95 per share implies 0.21% upside versus CRWD's 16.4% downside risk.