Is it worth investing in cybersecurity stocks?

Cybersecurity is like the unsung hero of the tech world -- it's always needed. With every leap in technology, there's a surge in demand for robust security measures as the threats grow more dangerous. Investing in cybersecurity stocks might just be a savvy strategy. The industry is already gigantic and growing.

How do economic downturns affect cybersecurity stocks?

While cybersecurity stocks can be volatile during market downturns due to their growth stock valuations, the essential nature of their services often leads to quicker recoveries than the broader tech sector. Canceling data security orders is like telling first responders to stay away from your block. The attacks won't stop coming.

What is the best long-term cybersecurity stock?

Selecting the best long-term cybersecurity stock isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on individual investment goals and risk tolerance. You should consider companies that consistently innovate and adapt to the changing landscape of threats. Look for firms with strong fundamentals, growth in revenue, and strategic positioning in emerging technologies. If choosing individual stocks feels daunting, cybersecurity ETFs offer a way to gain broad exposure to the sector without having to bet on a single company's future prospects.

Who are the Big 5 firms in cybersecurity?

There isn't a commonly accepted "big 5" list in cybersecurity, like the Big 4 accounting giants or the Magnificent Seven tech titans. This is a diverse industry with many key players whose fields of expertise overlap in some surprising ways. That said, you can think of Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Zscaler, and Microsoft as the "Big 5" cybersecurity leaders. If you're familiar with these names, you're well on your way to setting up a well-protected corporate network -- or to pick a great long-term investment from this sector.

Is cybersecurity going away?

Not at all. The idea of cybersecurity becoming obsolete is like imagining a world without the internet. As technology embeds itself deeper into our daily lives, the importance of cybersecurity only grows. Security threats simply come with the territory as bad actors always try to grab other people's property -- with more and more advanced technology at their side. It's a field expanding as fast as technology itself, ensuring it will remain relevant and crucial for safeguarding our digital future.

Can cybersecurity stocks be part of a diversified investment portfolio?

Sure, but you really only need one or two of these in a balanced basket of 20 stocks or more. Owning multiple cybersecurity stocks doesn't spread your risk by much -- they tend to move together. Think of cybersecurity as one focused bet within your broader tech allocation, which itself should be just one slice of your overall holdings.

Best Cybersecurity Stocks for 2026 and How to Invest

By Anders Bylund – Updated Jan 27, 2026 at 10:28 AM EST | Fact-checked by Robin Hartill, CFP

Key Points

Cybersecurity threats are rapidly evolving, driving high investment in protective technologies.
Global cybersecurity spending is projected to exceed $200 billion annually by 2028.
Top cybersecurity stocks include Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Fortinet.

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Ticker Information Table
Name and ticker	Market cap	Current price	Industry
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)	$103.8 billion	$148.91	Software
CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD)	$93.8 billion	$372.12	Software
Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT)	$58.8 billion	$79.02	Software
Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS)	$23.4 billion	$146.83	Software
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA)	$12.8 billion	$72.50	IT Services
SentinelOne (NYSE:S)	$4.5 billion	$13.12	Software
Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG)	$39.5 billion	$111.90	Software
Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM)	$14.3 billion	$98.28	IT Services

Data as of Mar 1, 2026. Showing 8 of 8 tickers.

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NASDAQ: PANW

Palo Alto Networks

Today's Change

(-0.33%) $-0.49

Current Price

$148.91

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$104B

Day's Range

$143.69 - $148.95

52wk Range

$139.57 - $223.61

Volume

351K

Avg Vol

9.4M

Gross Margin

73.50%

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The company's highly profitable platform has helped it acquire more than a dozen smaller cloud-native businesses in the past few years. As a result, Palo Alto Networks has given its security operations a serious makeover.

Management predicts double-digit percentage revenue growth in the years ahead for its next-gen security portfolio geared for the cloud era. This steady growth and market leadership helped make its stock one of the best performers among cybersecurity companies in the post-COVID-19 era.

Palo Alto Networks is the largest pure-play cybersecurity operation in terms of revenue and market cap. Now also a leading cloud security provider, this legacy business is highly competitive in the cybersecurity industry. Shares trade for a relative value compared to its younger, high-flying, cloud-native rivals.

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2. CrowdStrike Holdings

As a cloud-native software company, CrowdStrike Holdings provides endpoint security -- protection for devices such as laptops, PCs, smartphones, and any other device connected to a network. Because it's cloud-based, CrowdStrike is particularly well suited for supporting remote work.

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NASDAQ: CRWD

CrowdStrike

Today's Change

(-2.36%) $-8.98

Current Price

$372.12

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$94B

Day's Range

$359.52 - $373.49

52wk Range

$298.00 - $566.90

Volume

210K

Avg Vol

3.3M

Gross Margin

74.10%

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CrowdStrike's software uses machine learning to detect security breaches and hunt down threats. It's also easy to deploy to the millions of people working from home and the billions of machines connected to the internet.

The company has steadily expanded the number of modules on its platform to better serve its customers. It also has new integration agreements with other tech companies to ensure data protection consistency across an organization's entire IT infrastructure.

The premium-priced stock was hit hard in 2022, and its security network suffered a painful outage in July 2024. CrowdStrike's sales have been booming nonetheless, and the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven stock rose 16% in 2024 despite the outage.

The company is also highly profitable in terms of free cash flow. In an increasingly mobile world with more devices continually coming online, CrowdStrike is poised to continue growing at a brisk rate.

3. Fortinet

Fortinet, another legacy security software provider, is also one of the world's largest cybersecurity companies by revenue and market cap. Like its peer Palo Alto Networks, it has maintained double-digit percentage growth and is highly profitable. But unlike Palo Alto Networks' acquisition spree, Fortinet has invested in its organic development of cloud security to remain competitive.

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NASDAQ: FTNT

Fortinet

Today's Change

(-0.23%) $-0.18

Current Price

$79.02

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$59B

Day's Range

$76.66 - $79.05

52wk Range

$70.12 - $110.67

Volume

124K

Avg Vol

6.6M

Gross Margin

80.46%

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One of its developments is a software-based internet security product being built and deployed with one of Europe's leading telecom providers, Telefónica (NYSE:TEF). In August 2025, the company also announced a partnership with Singapore's Quantum Engineering Programme to develop next-gen security for quantum computing.

Fortinet is also a top provider of firewalls. Its best-in-class hardware continues generating more revenue as many organizations turn to Fortinet for help building new data centers and 5G mobile networks. For investors seeking strongly profitable sales growth, Fortinet stands out as one of the top security stocks on the market.

4. Zscaler

Zscaler, another cloud-native security vendor, works in tandem with endpoint security services to help keep data secure. The company has been increasing its sales rapidly and is another of the largest pure-play cybersecurity stocks as measured by market cap. Zscaler continues to deliver profitable revenue growth.

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NASDAQ: ZS

Zscaler

Today's Change

(-12.27%) $-20.53

Current Price

$146.83

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$23B

Day's Range

$140.58 - $150.86

52wk Range

$140.56 - $336.99

Volume

540K

Avg Vol

2.4M

Gross Margin

76.28%

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Zscaler started with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product designed for network protection in the modern cloud computing era. It has since added new internet security and end-user monitoring products.

End-user monitoring is increasingly valuable with so many people now working remotely. With global spending on cloud computing expected to exceed $1 trillion annually this decade, Zscaler is poised to profit from a massive secular growth trend.

5. Okta

Okta is a pioneer of identity and access management, which rethinks traditional security by using zero-trust architecture. This type of identity management constantly requires user verification before allowing access to data and applications.

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NASDAQ: OKTA

Okta

Today's Change

(-3.65%) $-2.75

Current Price

$72.50

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$13B

Day's Range

$71.26 - $73.88

52wk Range

$68.77 - $127.57

Volume

4.7M

Avg Vol

Gross Margin

77.08%

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In an increasingly mobile and cloud-based world, Okta's identity management software has been in high demand. Businesses often have a complicated web of stakeholders, including employees, third-party contractors, suppliers, and customers.

Okta is a leader in this branch of security. However, a cyberattack in January 2022 affected two of its largest customers, accelerating the stock's decline during the inflation-driven bear market. Even so, Okta remains in long-term growth mode as new customers adopt its software to manage identity and access security.

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6. SentinelOne

SentinelOne is another recent pure-play cybersecurity company to be publicly listed. Its initial public offering (IPO) in June 2021 raised $1.2 billion in cash and valued the company at $10 billion, making SentinelOne's IPO the largest ever for a cybersecurity company at the time.

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NYSE: S

SentinelOne

Today's Change

(-2.67%) $-0.36

Current Price

$13.12

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$4.5B

Day's Range

$12.71 - $13.20

52wk Range

$12.23 - $21.40

Volume

9.2M

Avg Vol

Gross Margin

74.45%

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SentinelOne is also making steady progress toward turning a profit. It operates a cloud-based endpoint security platform, which puts it in direct competition with CrowdStrike. Its ability to automatically detect and resolve cybersecurity threats is well received in the market.

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Did you know?

As a high-growth segment of the tech industry, cybersecurity offers investors lots of upside in the decade ahead.

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NASDAQ: DDOG

Datadog

Today's Change

(-3.92%) $-4.56

Current Price

$111.90

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$39B

Day's Range

$109.40 - $113.22

52wk Range

$81.63 - $201.69

Volume

194K

Avg Vol

5.4M

Gross Margin

79.93%

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It's also been steadily expanding its platform's capabilities with new modules that include cloud-based security and data monitoring. Data analytics software is a large, fast-growing segment of the tech world, which bodes well for Datadog. Elastic (ESTC -15.44%) and Dynatrace (DT -1.32%) are two other promising software makers to consider in this space.

2. Akamai

As a content delivery network (CDN), Akamai ensures that data arrives securely at its intended destination. With the amount of data traveling across the internet steadily on the rise, CDNs are becoming increasingly important.

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NASDAQ: AKAM

Akamai Technologies

Today's Change

(-1.62%) $-1.62

Current Price

$98.28

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$14B

Day's Range

$96.99 - $99.47

52wk Range

$67.51 - $113.50

Volume

109K

Avg Vol

3.5M

Gross Margin

54.72%

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More people than ever are using the web for everything from entertainment to work. To bolster its network security offerings and protect its customers from ransomware attacks, Akamai acquired several smaller security specialists from 2022 to 2024.

CDNs are internet infrastructures that maintain the internet "freeway" on which data travels. Akamai is a leader in this sector and also a developer of edge computing technology, which pulls data away from centralized data centers and brings it closer to end-users.

Cloudflare (NET -1.63%) and Fastly (NYSE:FSLY), which are newer CDN providers, have a sharper focus on edge computing and are competitors to Akamai worth considering.

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NASDAQ: CIBR

First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund II - First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF

Today's Change

(-1.50%) $-0.96

Current Price

$62.91

Key Data Points

Day's Range

$61.85 - $63.00

52wk Range

$55.02 - $78.34

Volume

1.4M

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2. Amplify Cybersecurity ETF

Also notable in this sector is the Amplify Cybersecurity ETF (HACK -0.73%). Holding 26 stocks today, the ETF invests in many relatively small companies in the cybersecurity industry. The fund manages $2.2 billion in assets and has an expense ratio of 0.6%.

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NYSEMKT: HACK

Amplify ETF Trust - Amplify Cybersecurity ETF

Today's Change

(-0.73%) $-0.54

Current Price

$73.16

Key Data Points

Day's Range

$71.36 - $73.16

52wk Range

$61.59 - $89.59

Volume

94K

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3. Global X Cybersecurity ETF

A relative newcomer to the cybersecurity ETF space, the Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG -2.26%) launched at the end of 2019. The fund managed $1.1 billion in assets in November 2025 and has an expense ratio of 0.5%. The Global X Cybersecurity ETF held 27 stocks in its portfolio as of this writing.

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NASDAQ: BUG

Global X Funds - Global X Cybersecurity ETF

Today's Change

(-2.26%) $-0.58

Current Price

$25.11

Key Data Points

Day's Range

$24.64 - $25.13

52wk Range

$23.97 - $37.55

Volume

1.7M

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Investing in cybersecurity stocks FAQ

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About the Author

Anders Bylund is a contributing Motley Fool media and technology analyst covering semiconductors, cloud computing, internet infrastructure, quantum computing, and streaming media. Previously, Anders was a systems administrator for Nielsen Technology and CSX, gaining hands-on experience with enterprise-class systems. He was also a freelance writer for Ars Technica, TIME, USA Today, CNN, WIRED, and AOL's Daily Finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in library and information sciences from Florida State University. He believes in coyotes and time as an abstract.

TMFZahrim

@TMFZahrim

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, Datadog, Fortinet, Okta, SentinelOne, and Zscaler. The Motley Fool recommends Akamai Technologies, Elastic, and Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.