CRWD Stock Leads Wedbush’s Cybersecurity Bets: Check Point, Fortinet, Varonis, Telos Downgraded

• Wedbush cited CrowdStrike’s platform strength and its positioning around AI-driven and agentic cybersecurity.
• Elastic also received an ‘Outperform’ rating, with Wedbush raising its price target to $125 on expectations for a potential fiscal 2027 growth inflection.
• Check Point, Fortinet, Varonis and Telos were downgraded, although Wedbush raised its price targets for Fortinet and Varonis.

CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) emerged as one of Wedbush’s top cybersecurity picks on Friday, while Check Point Software Technologies (CKPT), Fortinet (FTNT), Varonis Systems (VRNS) and Telos (TLS) were downgraded.

FTFT stock has roughly doubled year to date, leading the broader cohort, followed by CrowdStrike, up around 78%, and Varonis, up about 38%. Telos is down roughly 8%, while Check Point has fallen about 30%.

CrowdStrike Leads Wedbush’s Cybersecurity Bets

In a note to investors cited by TheFly, Wedbush initiated coverage of CrowdStrike with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a $250 price target, calling the company one of its highest-conviction names in cybersecurity and one of its top technology picks for the next 12 to 18 months. The target reflects the company’s 4-for-1 stock split.

Wedbush pointed to CrowdStrike’s platform strength and the growing importance of AI-driven cyber defense as companies contend with increasingly sophisticated malware threats. The firm also sees potential in CrowdStrike’s development of agentic security and agentic security operations center orchestration.

Wedbush also raised the price target on Elastic (ESTC) to $125, up from $65, and maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating. The firm cited that the company’s search, observability, and security businesses could reach a growth inflection in fiscal 2027 behind the price target hike.

CRWD stock edged 0.5% higher in early monring trade as the broader market moved higher. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the company remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day. Shares of ESTC moved 0.7% higher, with sentiment also in the ‘bearish’ zone. 

Check Point, Fortinet Face Higher Bar

The bullish view on CrowdStrike stood in contrast to downgrades across several other cybersecurity names. Wedbush downgraded Check Point to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’, cutting its price target to $135 from $160. The firm acknowledged the company’s transformation under CEO Nadav Zafrir and its expanded $2 billion buyback authorization, but pointed to decelerating growth heading into fiscal 2027.

Wedbush called Check Point a “prove-me” story, suggesting investors will need to see evidence that the company’s transformation can translate into renewed top-line momentum.

Fortinet was also downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’, although Wedbush raised its price target to $155 from $125. The firm said the stock’s roughly 100% year-to-date gain has left the market “currently baking in a best-case scenario,” creating a higher bar for the company to outperform through the second half of fiscal 2026.

CHKP stock edged 0.6% lower in morning trade, while FTNT stock slipped as much as 0.5%. Both saw retail sentiment trending in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day on Stocktwits. 

Varonis, Telos Need To Prove Growth

Wedbush also downgraded Varonis to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’, while raising its price target to $46 from $37.

The firm sees Varonis as well-positioned for the emerging agentic AI and data-security opportunity, citing 25% annual SaaS revenue growth excluding conversions, platform expansion, and opportunities in AI governance and database monitoring. 

However, Wedbush said it stayed cautious because Veronis’ growth remains below that of peers. It added the stock needs sustained top-line reacceleration before commanding a higher valuation.

Telos received the most bearish call, with Wedbush cutting the stock to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ and lowering its price target to $5 from $8. While growth accelerated to 33%, the firm said it remains concerned about variability in federal contracts and the early-stage adoption of Telos’ Xacta.ai platform.

VRNS stock moved 0.8% lower, while TLS stock plumetted more than 6%. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around VRNS improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, while sentiment around TLS trended in ‘bullish’ territory. 

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