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7 Best Cybersecurity Stocks to Buy

Cybersecurity stocks are increasingly viewed as one of the most compelling long-term investment opportunities in the technology sector, driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the growing sophistication of digital threats.

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Consider Project Glasswing, launched by Anthropic in April. This initiative was part of the company’s unreleased Claude Mythos AI model, which reportedly uncovered thousands of previously unknown vulnerabilities across software systems around the globe — and then proactively offered fixes for those weaknesses before hackers could exploit them, let alone discover them.

As businesses, governments and critical infrastructure become more dependent on connected systems, cyber defense tools are more important than ever. That is creating a huge tailwind for cybersecurity stocks, and the following list of leading companies represents some of the best ways to invest in the continued growth of cyber risks and solutions in the years ahead:

Stock Market capitalization
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (ticker: PANW) $192 billion
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD) $148 billion
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $88 billion
Cloudflare Inc. (NET) $70 billion
Zscaler Inc. (ZS) $25 billion
Okta Inc. (OKTA) $14 billion
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $13 billion

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW)

Palo Alto Networks is the largest cybersecurity stock on Wall Street as measured by market value or by annual revenue. That revenue is growing fast despite that massive scale, too, with expansion of more than 20% expected in both fiscal year 2026 and 2027. Major clients include JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC), proving that the world’s leading financial institutions trust PANW to protect their sensitive information. Though shares have underperformed over the last 12 months, long-term gains of more than 250% make this one of the best cybersecurity stocks out there.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD)

Tracking only slightly behind Palo Alto when it comes to market value, CrowdStrike is also tracking 20% annual growth rates as it continues to prove its value to big-name clients. A market leader in network and cloud security, CRWD has been an early adopter of AI-driven solutions to provide world-class cybersecurity protections. Shares are up more than 30% in the last year as this tech leader has proven its value to investors as well as to big-name customers, including Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Amazon Web Services.

Fortinet Inc. (FTNT)

Fortinet is widely respected for its high-performance firewalls that include its FortiGate products, providing secure access for leading enterprises and government entities around the world. Particularly in the age of cloud data, this advanced security across hybrid IT environments is in demand now more than ever. Growth rates are a bit lower than the prior stocks, with “only” 15% expansion in revenue predicted this fiscal year. However, the five-year gains of about 170% in FTNT rival those of the best-performing cybersecurity stocks out there.

Cloudflare Inc. (NET)

Anyone who uses the internet regularly is familiar with Cloudflare authentication processes that help websites stay protected from hackers. Distributed denial-of-service attacks have become a chronic concern over the last several years, and malicious disruptions to normal traffic to a website can cost businesses millions in lost revenue — and even more in reputational risk. Cloudflare is tracking almost 30% revenue growth in both 2026 and 2027 as it remains the go-to source of protection for websites worldwide.

[SEE: 8 Best Quantum Computing Stocks to Buy in 2026]

Zscaler Inc. (ZS)

Zscaler is a cloud-based cybersecurity platform that prides itself on a model of “zero trust.” That means ensuring the most secure internet and application access for all users at all times, including remote and distributed users who are becoming increasingly common in this interconnected digital age. Zscaler has a bit of a checkered past, with shares down about 60% from their peak of almost $370 a share in 2021, back when it was hyped as the hottest cybersecurity stock out there. The company is still expected to grow revenue at a 15% to 20% rate through 2030, and after settling into a new pricing range, it may now be a bargain for investors who can look past prior volatility.

Okta Inc. (OKTA)

Okta is a cloud-based identity and access management company that specializes in single-sign-on (SSO) services and multi-factor authentication (MFA). SSO and MFA are jargon to most consumers, but anyone who is involved in using, building or maintaining websites for their employer will recognize the importance of this technology. Security is critical, after all, but so is the ability for employees to easily log on to the tools they need and do their jobs without remembering 97 different passwords. OKTA has rolled up many of its peers in the last few years, including Axiom Security, Spera Security and Uno. This has given it unrivaled scale and made it a go-to provider of identity solutions.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP)

Check Point Software Technologies provides AI-powered cybersecurity solutions that emphasize prevention to protect businesses and governments worldwide. Its main areas of focus include cloud, network and remote workspace environments. Check Point’s CloudGuard security helps prevent threats like ransomware and phishing, which have hard costs if they succeed but can also create big time sucks for organizations that are left to filter out these threats on their own. Revenue growth is slower than some other stocks in the sector, and shares are down about 50% from their 2021 highs, but a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 11 makes CHKP one of the most affordable cybersecurity picks on Wall Street right now.

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7 Best Cybersecurity Stocks to Buy originally appeared on usnews.com

Update 05/14/26: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.

A tropical depression could soon form in the Atlantic — but can it survive El Niño’s hostile conditions?

(CNN) — El Niño has been hitting the snooze button on Atlantic hurricane season for weeks, largely preventing the basin from waking up and churning up storms, but at least one potential tropical troublemaker has a chance to shake the season out of its slumber.The National Hurricane Center is outlooking an area in the tropical Atlantic that has about a 70% or “high” chance of becoming at least a tropical depression late this week. There’s also another area in the northern Atlantic that has a much lower chance to develop, and only in the next day or two.The next tropical storm that forms anywhere in the basin will be named Cristobal.🌤️ Get your local forecast in the CNN Weather appMid-August is typically when the tropics enters its busiest stretch, but any upcoming contenders for tropical development are going to be fighting an uphill battle to form and stay alive against El Niño’s influence.Toe-to-toe with El NiñoThe main challenge these systems face is El Niño’s abundant storm-killing wind shear. It’s a force that’s more likely to stick around as El Niño grows into a potentially record-breaking Super El Niño in the coming months.Wind shear is a change in wind speed or direction at different levels in the atmosphere that can prevent storms from forming in the first place, keep them from strengthening or tear them apart completely. It’s now firmly in place over what should be the most active parts of the Atlantic.This is the exact setup that prompted numerous predictions for a below-average season in the first place. Hurricane season has certainly been living up to those expectations so far: It’s been the least active start to the season since 2009.Arthur and Bertha have been the only tropical storms to date. Both came alive right along the Gulf Coast and were battered by wind shear every step of the way, which prevented them from strengthening significantly and limited their impacts overall.Development chancesThe upcoming tropical chances may face a similar story, just in different locations.The area outlooked with the high chance in the eastern Atlantic marks the first time all season a system could actually form somewhere other than near the United States’ coastline.This area of the Atlantic — called the main development region — should be getting very active at this point in a typical season as wind shear relaxes and ocean temperatures soar, providing tropical systems with ample fuel.But thanks to El Niño, that wind shear remains stubbornly in place and has recently become record strong, according to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert with Colorado State University.There could be a window after Wednesday for the potential system with a high chance of development to get enough of a boost of energy to overcome some of the shear.It could become a tropical depression as soon as Thursday as it tracks west across the tropical Atlantic. But it’s unclear how much stronger it could become.Computer forecast models are also still uncertain exactly where the system could track from there. Some take it toward the eastern Caribbean late this weekend, where it would face more wind shear. Others curve the system northeast of the region, where it could eventually escape the worst shear and head toward the open Atlantic if it survives that long.The other potential development area has a slimmer time frame to spin to life before conditions get more hostile around midweek.Season to dateA normal Atlantic hurricane season typically has at least three tropical storms by August 3 and four by August 15. Bertha — the season’s second storm and the last to roam anywhere in the basin — impacted the US Gulf Coast in late July.The season is also behind on hurricanes: The first hurricane of the season typically forms around August 11. Hurricane Erin formed just a few days after that threshold in 2025 and 2024 had already seen two hurricanes by that point.Mid-August to mid-October is when most tropical storms and hurricanes form, so there’s still plenty of time for tropical systems to make an attempt. However, multiple groups including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Colorado State University are growing increasingly confident in their forecasts for a muted season overall.NOAA released a forecast update last week that upped their chances of a below-average season from 55% to 75%. That forecast also notably dropped its range for the overall number of major hurricanes — Category 3 or greater — from one to three to zero to two.If the 2026 season ends without a major hurricane, it would be the first time without such a powerful storm since 2013.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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