CRWD, PANW, NET, ZS: One Cybersecurity Stock Won Over Retail Investors – But Another Tops Wall Street’s List

• Palo Alto was next, with 22% of the vote, while 18% and 13% went to Zscaler and Cloudflare, respectively. 
• Based on average price targets, Wall Street appears to see the highest upside potential in Zscaler, with the 12-month average price target of $192.58 still implying more than 26% upside. 
• Analysts are also largely positive on the other cybersecurity names, although the 12-month average price targets imply downsides. 

Cybersecurity stocks rallied sharply on Tuesday after a surprise warning from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) suggested that enterprise spending priorities are shifting away from traditional IT infrastructure and toward cybersecurity.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD) led the climb, surging more than 12% at close; Zscaler Inc. (ZS) rose more than 7%. Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) also rose nearly 7%, while Cloudflare Inc. (NET) added more than 4.5%. 

"Customers were distracted by rapidly evolving, industry-wide cybersecurity concerns in the quarter," IBM Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna said on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, IBM stock fell over 25% following the comments and a preliminary earnings report that came in below market expectations. 

CRWD, PANW, NET, ZS: What Is Wall Street’s View?

CrowdStrike has continued to expand its AI and identity security capabilities, reinforcing analyst optimism around its long-term growth prospects. 

Earlier this month, the company was named Frost & Sullivan's 2026 Global Enabling Technology Leader in Zero Trust Browser Security, with the research firm highlighting Falcon Secure Access as a new approach to securing browser-based activity, including access to generative AI applications and AI-powered browsers.

CRWD stock has a 12-month average price target of $184.32 on its shares, based on data from Koyfin, implying a downside of about 12.5% from its last close. However, 40 out of 52 analysts covering the stock rate it a ‘Buy’ or higher. 

Meanwhile, Wall Street is also largely positive on PANW stock. Recently, Citi analyst Fatima Boolani raised the price target on Palo Alto Networks to $400 from $340 and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares, saying that it expects positive annual recurring revenue estimate revisions for the company. The revised target implies an upside of about 13%. 

However, the 12-month average price target of $325.37 on its shares, based on data from Koyfin, implies a downside of about 7.8% from its last close. Of the 54 analysts covering the stock, 43 rate it a ‘Buy’ or higher. 

Meanwhile, Cloudflare’s 12-month average price target of $249.13 on its shares implies a downside of about 11.2% from its last close. Of the 34 analysts covering the stock, 24 rate it a ‘Buy’ or higher. 

Based on the average price targets, Wall Street appears to see the highest upside potential in Zscaler, with the 12-month average price target of $192.58 still implying an upside of more than 26%. 

What’s The Retail View On CRWD, PANW, NET, ZS Stocks?

The comments sparked a conversation among retail traders around which company stands to benefit the most as enterprises redirect spending toward cyber defense. In a Stocktwits poll that sought to gauge which names would post the best performance over the next 12 months, nearly half the users polled picked CrowdStrike as the clear winner, with 47% voting in its favor. 

Palo Alto was next, with 22% picking the stock over the others. Meanwhile, 18% and 13% of the votes went to Zscaler and Cloudflare, respectively. 

In the comments, some users said SentinelOne Inc. (S), Netskope Inc. (NTSK), and Okta Inc. (OKTA) would also be beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, retail sentiment around NET stock was in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory at the time of writing, while it was ‘bullish’ for ZS stock. PANW and NET stocks were trending in the ‘neutral’ territory at the time of writing. 

CRWD stock has surged more than 85% so far this year, PANW stock has rallied nearly 97% and NET stock has gained more than 43%. Meanwhile, ZS stock has declined about 31% in the same time. 

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