CrowdStrike, Cisco gain on AI cybersecurity theme

CrowdStrike and Cisco are two of the stocks most exposed to that narrative. CrowdStrike has surged from $94.29 in early February to $206.74 on Sept. 11, a move that came alongside a sharp improvement in momentum indicators, including an RSI reading of 56.1 and a MACD line still above its signal. Cisco has also rallied hard this year, though it has pulled back from a recent high above $123 to $112.13, with RSI at 53.5 and the shares still well above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

The market backdrop helps explain why Huang’s comments land now. Adalytica’s AI sentiment gauge is in “Extreme Fear” at 4, even as its awareness measure sits at 81, suggesting investors are watching the theme closely but remain unsettled about which names will actually capture the spending. Nvidia itself remains the market’s central AI bellwether, with its shares at $218.29 and sentiment around the stock still in “Greed” territory at 78, though down from 100 a day earlier.

For investors, the signal is that cybersecurity may be one of the few second-order AI trades with both growth and pricing power. Enterprises cannot simply bolt AI onto existing defenses; they need more telemetry, more automation and faster response times, which supports budget growth for vendors such as CrowdStrike, Cisco and Palo Alto Networks.

That makes the next catalyst less about AI hype and more about whether security vendors can translate the theme into bookings, expansion and durable margins as companies rush to protect AI workloads, data and identity systems.