Wedbush added Palo Alto Networks to its best investment ideas list after the CyberArk deal.
The story below details how the company’s “platformization” strategy is strengthening, evident in over 150 new contracts and a doubling of AI-related annual recurring revenue.
According to analysts, the company offers the most comprehensive cybersecurity service portfolio, and its stock is therefore a good buying opportunity now.
Investmentcast interviewed Mikko Hyppönen, so I put it in this thread due to the theme of this episode. 
This episode features cybersecurity pioneer Mikko Hyppönen, former Chief Research Officer at F-Secure, who recently moved to the drone defense company Sensofusion. The episode discusses the turning points in Hyppönen’s career, and he reveals what kind of threats lurk online today.
The episode also discusses, among other things, the world’s first virus, the ruthless business models of internet criminals, and state-sponsored cyberattacks. In addition, Hyppönen’s current views on future threats, cryptocurrencies, and his own investments are heard.
According to the tweet thread below, cybersecurity has become one of technology’s strongest growth areas, even if it doesn’t always make headlines. The market is already in the $225–300 billion range, and growth continues at an annual rate of about 15 percent. The thread also states that companies are investing more in protection as data, cloud, and AI become increasingly intertwined.
Analysts expect the strongest growth from Cloudflare and Rubrik, but CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, and Zscaler are also reportedly doing well. Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Okta are growing slower, but steadily.
The thread also highlights that the next wave will come from AI-driven cybersecurity and identity management, as these will build the security walls of the future.
Here’s a good overview of the topic and these companies:
For X users:
https://x.com/SergeyCYW/status/1978461308401143986
For non-X users:
https://twitter-thread.com/t/1978461308401143986
Screenshot of the initial post:
Microsoft is very strongly involved in the antivirus market (too)
https://x.com/Mayhem4Markets/status/1982196019342221319
Palo Altojulkaisi uudet tekoälyagentit, jotka hoitavat automaattisesti kyberturvatehtäviä, kuten esimerkiksi sähköpostimurron selvityksen.
Yritykset kaipaavat entistä enemmän automaatiota, koska hyökkäykset ovat entistä monimutkaisempia. Silti toistaiseksi ihmiset tarkistavat vielä agenttien tekemät päätökset.
"Key Points
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/28/palo-alto-networks-debuts-new-tk-agent-to-fight-cy.html
Palo Alto Networks started the year quite strongly, e.g., margins improved, but the biggest thing was the direction towards AI and data. The acquisition of Chronosphere suggests that the company is no longer content with just cybersecurity but is building a broader platform role. At the same time, customers are committing with increasingly longer contracts, which indicates trust.
Still, there are quite big things to consider, e.g., the simultaneous integration of several acquisitions can bring rush, problems, and disruptions; in addition, the slowdown in growth raises questions.
All in all, the sentiment seems quite positive: the strategy is progressing, and cash flow remains incredibly strong.
https://x.com/earnings_guy/status/1991252729906208985
Zscaler’s fairly decent result was particularly due to strong demand for Zero Trust and AI security solutions. The company significantly increased its revenue and recurring revenue, and also managed to reduce its loss. Profitability also improved on an adjusted basis.
Management emphasizes that customers are seeking better security, lower costs, and a simpler IT environment. The technology from the latest acquisition is now being integrated into the company’s broader AI security.
The market expected more from the results, although to my eye it looked reasonable, I need to read more.
https://x.com/earnings_guy/status/1993425928660172815
Palo Alto’s new agreement with Alphabet’s Google Cloud strengthens the company’s position as one of the key players in AI-based cybersecurity.
The company is migrating some of its existing solutions directly to Google Cloud, but the focus is on new services designed to address the threat landscape accelerated by AI.
The collaboration should provide Palo Alto with a scalable platform and increased credibility, particularly in the eyes of large enterprise customers, as major organizations are now looking for partners capable of securing broader and deeper AI adoption.
The text introduces three major cybersecurity companies.
Palo Alto is now selling its services in bundles and is acquiring CyberArk on top of that to expand its identity security, making the company an even stronger player in the market. The article also highlights CrowdStrike, which it says shines with its cloud-based Falcon platform and AI, despite that major, famous “blue screen” outage in 2024. Microsoft is also mentioned via its Defender. Analysts expect strong earnings growth from all of them, but on the other hand, their valuations are giving the market pause.
A data breach can cost a company millions of dollars in damages. And the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) increases the pressure on businesses, which could face increasingly advanced cyber threats in the future.
That’s why cybersecurity has become a top spending priority for enterprises, and it’s likely to remain so. Experts estimate that the global cybersecurity market, valued at about $208 billion in 2024, will swell to nearly $352 billion by 2030.
As a result, the industry presents a lucrative hunting ground for investors seeking growth stocks that can be game changers for a portfolio over the next decade or so.
Here are three top cybersecurity stocks you’ll want to consider buying and holding.
Cybersecurity companies the Blue Screen firm and Palo are being compared
Palo Alto’s growth accelerated, driven especially by the AI and platform segments.
Revenue increased and EPS exceeded expectations quite nicely. Next-generation security services grew well, and the backlog rose to 16 billion. The company raised its full-year guidance and expects AI to continue boosting demand, as everyone else is saying - though judging by the comments and expectations, not everyone was that satisfied with the guidance provided. 
Profitability remained high, apparently mainly due to efficiency measures; additionally, Palo Alto emphasized that integrations with recently acquired companies are progressing as planned.
https://x.com/tmlsflow/status/2023866483160625343
It’s good that this company immediately published this presentation deck as well (this company’s presentation is quite well done anyway), it’s more pleasing to the eye, less text of course (though I read bits and pieces anyway, usually not everything), but nicer for looking at figures and making comparisons.
Here is some general speculation regarding potential cyberattacks in the wake of Iran’s bombings, through which Iran—together with the help of China and perhaps Russia—could attempt to create chaos as retaliation for the bombings.
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon is warning of cyberattacks against banks, among others. News outlets and, for instance, the WEF’s Klaus Schwab repeatedly warn of Iranian attacks against airlines, tech firms, power plants, hospitals, and transportation infrastructure. Schwab has spoken numerous times every year about a ”Cyber Pandemic,” and it is likely only a matter of time before one occurs. A total systems blackout would cause widespread destruction but is, of course, very challenging to execute, so the financial system may be a more distinct individual target.
Smaller attacks have already been carried out, and according to X Space discussions, Iran seems to be behind them, but it is possible that some state actor, such as China—which has otherwise stayed in the background—is providing back-end support for the strikes. The number of attacks (and attempts) by sophisticated pro-Iran hacktivists has reportedly increased significantly over the last 24-36 hours.
A widely orchestrated attack against banks, for example, could be the most effective and bring the financial system to its knees, especially if the market were to drop at the same time, leading to increased margin calls, failed money transfers, and causing maximum panic and a potential flash crash.
Below is my Cybersec watchlist. The sector saw a decent bounce from the bottom yesterday:
Let’s bring @Housumies’ Fortinet post from the quality companies thread over to this industry thread as well.
Here is SalkunRakentaja’s article about Zscaler
Nasdaq-listed Zscaler is a US-based cloud security company founded in 2007, with its headquarters in San Jose, California.
Zscaler’s stock is still 60 percent below its 2021 peak. At that time, the overheating of the technology market pushed the company’s valuation to an unsustainable level. However, the majority of analysts following the company give the stock a buy recommendation, and the consensus target price suggests significant upside potential from current levels.
The company’s stock has fallen over 40 percent during the last six months.
Subheadings:
Palo Alto’s stock rose after CEO Nikesh Arora purchased shares in the company for the first time since 2019, totaling approximately ten million dollars.
This purchase was well-received, especially now, as AI-related concerns and new developments are weighing on cybersecurity companies’ stocks.
Over the last year, Arora has ramped up the company’s bets on cybersecurity with a massive acquisition of Israeli identity security company CyberArk, which closed in February. The company is also leaning into AI with new automation tools and bought AI observability platform Chronosphere for over $3.3 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/30/palo-alto-stock-nikesh-arora-buys-shares.html
Fortinet reported strong Q1 figures and guidance: https://investor.fortinet.com/static-files/9dc7117a-d2dc-4d9f-b151-c2eea950a0e4
The market seems to like it too: +17% after hours.
