Wall Street shouts: The US stock cyber security sector is in the “early stages” of revaluation! AI detonates cyber defense demand Black Hat conference catalyzes collective explosion of concept stocks

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Monday, the cybersecurity sector of US stocks broke out collectively. CrowdStrike (CRWD.US) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US) both surged more than 5%, setting new historical records. The BTIG analyst team raised the target prices of the two companies as soon as the Black Hat conference ended, and bluntly stated: “AI agents have fundamentally changed the threat landscape.” Cantor analysts further pointed out that AI has evolved from a security function to a key pillar of attack surface and infrastructure for both offense and defense.

Black Hat 2026: A security wake-up call for the AI proxy era

This year's Black Hat conference sent a clear and urgent signal: AI agents have fundamentally changed the cyber threat landscape.

According to reports, during discussions with partners, suppliers and customers during the conference, BTIG analysts discovered that the “most consistent theme” was the fundamental reshaping of the threat environment by AI agents. Of the 121 presentations at the conference, 35 sessions focused exclusively on AI security topics. The tone of the discussions among the participants is also becoming more and more pragmatic — “no longer hyping up the potential of AI, but rather focusing on how to safely deploy AI systems and manage the identity and authority of intelligent entities.”

What is even more alarming is that the attack capability of AI agents has moved from theory to reality. At the conference, the researchers showed a Hugging Face intrusion executed by an AI agent rather than a human. Security vendors have recorded end-to-end ransomware attacks performed by AI agents — automating everything from reconnaissance to ransomware.

“AI has moved from being a feature of cybersecurity to a critical pillar of attack surfaces and attacker/defender infrastructure.” Cantor analysts wrote in the report.

The deployment of AI security tools is still in the “early stages.” BTIG made it clear that although the threat environment has “significantly deteriorated,” the deployment of AI security tools has only just begun. This means that the current increase in cybersecurity spending is still at the beginning of a long cycle of upgrades.

The defense logic was forced to be restructured. Traditional rules-based and signature-based defense systems are failing in the face of AI agents. Business executives and potential customers gathered in Las Vegas, and the core topic has changed from “whether to deploy AI security tools” to “how to protect systems from uncontrolled AI proxy attacks.” Truffle Security CEO demonstrated at the conference how AI agents continue to surpass the responsiveness of most organizations to detect and misuse sensitive credentials at ultra-high speed.

The sector explodes across the board: CrowdStrike and Palo Alto lead the way

The market reacted quickly and violently to this trend. Monday's close: CrowdStrike closed up 5.01% to $225.16, a record intraday high; Palo Alto Networks closed up 5.82% to $385.04, also setting a new historical record.

BTIG quickly raised the target prices for several cybersecurity stocks after the conference: Palo Alto to $380, CrowdStrike to $237, and Rubrik to $109.

Notably, BTIG's target price was surpassed by the market on the same day — Palo Alto once hit $381.70 in the intraday market, exceeding the target price that had just been raised that morning. It's not that analysts are leading the market; it's that the market is surpassing analysts.

This rise was not limited to individual leaders, but a collective explosion in the cybersecurity sector as a whole: Rubrik (RBRK.US) surged nearly 9%, Tenable (TENB.US) rose more than 7%, Netskope (NTSK.US) and Zscaler (ZS.US) each rose about 5%, and SailPoint (SAIL.US) and SentinelOne (S.US) each rose about 4%. This sector-level resonance reflects that the market is systematically reevaluating the long-term growth logic of the cybersecurity industry.

The $215 billion spending wave: Gartner's macro-endorsement

Although the AI threat is imminent, the deployment of defense tools is still in the “early stages” — this is the core logic that investors are optimistic about the long-term prospects of the cybersecurity sector.

Gartner predicts that corporate cybersecurity budgets will reach $215 billion in 2026. Companies are actively purchasing agent-type tools to counter malicious AI models. This demand background provides solid support for the further rise in cybersecurity stocks. Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo pointed out during his time at Black Hat that cybersecurity spending will continue to benefit from “AI anxiety” over the next few quarters.

BTIG analysts pointed out that Palo Alto's identity platform will benefit from the popularity of AI agents, while products such as xSiam and Chronosphere establish “data moats” for other security verticals. XSIAM (Extended Security Intelligence and Automated Management System) can autonomously detect, contain, and roll back threats in real time, transforming cybersecurity from “finding vulnerabilities” to “fixing vulnerabilities.”

Regarding CrowdStrike, BTIG believes that “AI is creating a new modernization cycle in the field of endpoint security”, which will directly benefit CrowdStrike's core business.

For investors, the core question is: has the subject of AI threats been fully priced? The key variable is no longer “whether AI will change cybersecurity”, but “whether the AI security narrative has been fully priced.” Palo Alto has risen 114% over the past 12 months, and CrowdStrike and Rubrik are at record highs. However, BTIG's “early stage” judgment suggests that the volume of this upgrade cycle may be more far-reaching than the current stock price reflects.

When AI agents can both launch attacks and defend themselves, when “proxy hijacking” becomes a real attack vector, and when the security budget breaks the $200 billion mark — what the cybersecurity industry is experiencing is no longer an ordinary product iteration, but an aggressive revolution driven by AI.