Cybersecurity stocks extended their 2026 rally on Wednesday, with Fortinet (FTNT) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) both reaching milestone levels as enterprise spending on AI-related security accelerates.
Fortinet touched an all-time high of $176.23 before trading around $174.73, up about 0.3%. The stock has gained roughly 119% in 2026 and more than doubled over the past year. Second-quarter revenue rose 26% year over year to $2.05 billion, while billings climbed 33% to $2.37 billion. Product revenue jumped 52% to $773 million, helped by stronger FortiGate unit sales and higher average selling prices. Non-GAAP operating margin reached 38%, free cash flow climbed to $966 million, and the company raised its full-year outlook to revenue of $8.02 billion to $8.18 billion and billings of $9.35 billion to $9.55 billion.
Fortinet has also expanded its AI security portfolio, acquiring Virtue AI in August. The acquisition adds AI runtime protection, automated validation and security for autonomous AI systems to Fortinet's FortiAIGate offering, which protects large language models and AI applications from threats such as prompt injection, data leakage and model abuse.
CrowdStrike surged more than 4% to a new 52-week high near $260, even as the Nasdaq fell about 1%, signaling company-specific demand. Fiscal second-quarter revenue increased 26% year over year to $1.47 billion, free cash flow was about $377 million, annual recurring revenue grew 25%, and net new ARR rose 51%.
Analyst activity has supported the move. Bank of America raised its CrowdStrike price target to $260 with a Neutral rating, while Morgan Stanley and Stephens also lifted targets and Wedbush initiated coverage with an Outperform rating. For Fortinet, TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating with a $215 target, while Stifel held at Hold with a $175 target and Bernstein remained at Hold with a $145 target.
CrowdStrike has also expanded integrations around its Falcon Next-Gen SIEM platform with partners including Salt Security, Horizon3, Nord Security and Wipro. These integrations aim to give customers more visibility into AI agent activity, APIs, permissions and connected tools across Falcon Foundry, Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and Falcon Firewall Management.
The main risk for both stocks is valuation after sharp 2026 runs, as well as competition from rivals including Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Zscaler and other security vendors.
