We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
3 Cybersecurity Stocks to Protect the Digital World in 2026
Read MoreHide Full Article
Key Takeaways
CRWD is driving growth through Falcon Flex, with ARR from Flex customers reaching $1.35B in Q3 fiscal 2026.
FTNT is seeing strong SASE momentum, as FortiSASE billings grew over 100% year over year in Q3 2025.
ZS is scaling fast in AI, Zero Trust and data security, with these pillars surpassing $1B in combined ARR.
Cybercrime costs are exploding as more people, businesses, and governments rely on digital systems. Companies now use cloud platforms, online payments, remote work tools, and connected devices for daily operations. While this improves efficiency, it also creates more opportunities for cybercriminals to attack. As digital use increases, the financial damage from cybercrime continues to grow.
That’s why cybersecurity has become one of the fastest-growing global industries. Fortune Business Insights expects that the global cybersecurity market will jump from $193.7 billion in 2024 to nearly $563 billion by 2032, witnessing a 14.4% compound annual growth rate. This surge reflects not just stronger demand but also the growing complexity of digital networks, new compliance requirements, and the urgent need to protect critical data. Leaders like CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD - Free Report) , Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) and Zscaler (ZS - Free Report) are already monetizing this demand with platforms built for modern threats.
Rising Cybercrime Costs: A Key Concern
Cybercrime includes attacks such as ransomware, data theft, online fraud, identity theft, and email scams. These attacks are no longer limited to large companies. Small businesses, public institutions, and individuals are also frequent targets. Cybercriminals use automated tools to attack many victims at the same time, which increases overall losses.
The growing use of digital systems has increased cybercrime costs. Cloud computing, remote work, online payments, and connected devices have expanded the number of systems that can be attacked. This larger attack surface makes security harder to manage. When a breach happens, it often leads to system downtime, data loss, and long recovery periods.
Cybercrime costs go beyond stolen money. Companies must spend on system repairs, data recovery, legal support, regulatory compliance, and rebuilding customer trust. In many cases, the cost to fix the damage is higher than the amount stolen. According to a report from Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion per year by 2025 compared with $3 trillion in 2015, showing how fast these losses have grown.
New technologies are also increasing costs. Cybercriminals use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve scams, phishing attacks, and impersonation. These attacks are harder to detect and more successful. Overall, cybercrime costs are exploding because attacks are more frequent, systems are harder to secure, and recovery is expensive. Without stronger prevention, these costs are likely to keep rising in the coming years.
The rise in cyber risks has made cybersecurity a basic requirement for protecting data and critical systems. Organizations are now investing more in security to prevent attacks and reduce damage. This increased focus on security is creating strong demand for companies that provide effective cybersecurity solutions.
Here, we have discussed three major cybersecurity players, CrowdStrike Holdings, Fortinet and Zscaler, that have the capabilities to protect the digital world in 2026 and beyond.
3 Cybersecurity Stocks to Focus
CrowdStrike offers its solution through its main cloud native Falcon platform. The Falcon platform is the industry’s first multi-tenant, cloud native, intelligent security solution that protects workloads across on-premise, cloud-based, and virtualized environments running on a variety of endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, servers, virtual machines, and IoT devices.
CrowdStrike’s cloud-based Falcon platform currently provides 29 cloud modules via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription model that is categorized under three categories: Endpoint Security, Security & IT Operations and Threat Intelligence.
A key driver of CrowdStrike’s customer growth is its Falcon Flex subscription model, which streamlines security adoption with modular and scalable solutions. This flexibility fosters long-term customer commitments, fueling steady revenue growth and deeper platform integration.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, annual recurring revenue (ARR) from Falcon Flex customers reached $1.35 billion, which more than tripled from last year’s level. The growing adoption of Falcon Flex is expected to positively benefit this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s prospects in the upcoming quarters. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Fortinet is a global leader in network security and firewalls with a growing platform approach, taking an active role in enabling enterprises against cloud and endpoint security. Fortinet delivers its security solutions through its unified FortiOS platform. FortiOS is a single operating system that runs across Fortinet’s firewalls, SD-WAN, SASE, and security operations products. Customers can manage security across endpoints, cloud workloads, and critical infrastructure using the same system.
Fortinet earns a large part of its revenues from recurring software licenses and security services that are bundled with its hardware products. As customers expand their use of Fortinet’s platform, service revenues continue to grow steadily. The company is also focusing on Unified SASE, which allows customers to add cloud-based security features on top of their existing firewall and networking setup.
A key growth driver is FortiSASE. In the third quarter of 2025, FortiSASE billings grew by more than 100% year over year. Unified SASE billings increased 19% and now account for 26% of total billings. Adoption is also improving, with 15% of Fortinet’s large enterprise customers now using FortiSASE. This figure increased more than 55% from last year.
The above-mentioned factors demonstrate how customers are expanding their use of Fortinet’s platform rather than adding new vendors, which bodes well for this Zacks Rank #3 company’s prospects in the upcoming quarters.
Zscaler is one of the world’s leading providers of cloud-based security solutions. Zscaler offers a full range of enterprise network security services, including web security, Internet security, antivirus, vulnerability management, firewalls, and control over user activity in mobile, cloud computing, and Internet of Things environments.
Zscaler’s three main growth areas include AI Security, Zero Trust Everywhere and Data Security Everywhere, which have crossed the $1 billion milestone in ARR, growing faster than the company’s overall business. AI Security alone reached $400 million ARR at the end of the first quarter and is expected to exceed $500 million in fiscal 2026 as enterprises adopt AI Guard and agentic operations.
Zero Trust Everywhere has already attracted more than 450 enterprises, achieving its target of 390 enterprises in fiscal 2026. Data Security ARR rose to $450 million, with strong upsell opportunities as most customers use only a few modules today. These three pillars are likely to create strong, diversified drivers for this Zacks Rank #3 company’s future growth.
Image: Bigstock
3 Cybersecurity Stocks to Protect the Digital World in 2026
Key Takeaways
Cybercrime costs are exploding as more people, businesses, and governments rely on digital systems. Companies now use cloud platforms, online payments, remote work tools, and connected devices for daily operations. While this improves efficiency, it also creates more opportunities for cybercriminals to attack. As digital use increases, the financial damage from cybercrime continues to grow.
That’s why cybersecurity has become one of the fastest-growing global industries. Fortune Business Insights expects that the global cybersecurity market will jump from $193.7 billion in 2024 to nearly $563 billion by 2032, witnessing a 14.4% compound annual growth rate. This surge reflects not just stronger demand but also the growing complexity of digital networks, new compliance requirements, and the urgent need to protect critical data. Leaders like CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD - Free Report) , Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) and Zscaler (ZS - Free Report) are already monetizing this demand with platforms built for modern threats.
Rising Cybercrime Costs: A Key Concern
Cybercrime includes attacks such as ransomware, data theft, online fraud, identity theft, and email scams. These attacks are no longer limited to large companies. Small businesses, public institutions, and individuals are also frequent targets. Cybercriminals use automated tools to attack many victims at the same time, which increases overall losses.
The growing use of digital systems has increased cybercrime costs. Cloud computing, remote work, online payments, and connected devices have expanded the number of systems that can be attacked. This larger attack surface makes security harder to manage. When a breach happens, it often leads to system downtime, data loss, and long recovery periods.
Cybercrime costs go beyond stolen money. Companies must spend on system repairs, data recovery, legal support, regulatory compliance, and rebuilding customer trust. In many cases, the cost to fix the damage is higher than the amount stolen. According to a report from Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion per year by 2025 compared with $3 trillion in 2015, showing how fast these losses have grown.
New technologies are also increasing costs. Cybercriminals use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve scams, phishing attacks, and impersonation. These attacks are harder to detect and more successful. Overall, cybercrime costs are exploding because attacks are more frequent, systems are harder to secure, and recovery is expensive. Without stronger prevention, these costs are likely to keep rising in the coming years.
The rise in cyber risks has made cybersecurity a basic requirement for protecting data and critical systems. Organizations are now investing more in security to prevent attacks and reduce damage. This increased focus on security is creating strong demand for companies that provide effective cybersecurity solutions.
Here, we have discussed three major cybersecurity players, CrowdStrike Holdings, Fortinet and Zscaler, that have the capabilities to protect the digital world in 2026 and beyond.
3 Cybersecurity Stocks to Focus
CrowdStrike offers its solution through its main cloud native Falcon platform. The Falcon platform is the industry’s first multi-tenant, cloud native, intelligent security solution that protects workloads across on-premise, cloud-based, and virtualized environments running on a variety of endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, servers, virtual machines, and IoT devices.
CrowdStrike’s cloud-based Falcon platform currently provides 29 cloud modules via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription model that is categorized under three categories: Endpoint Security, Security & IT Operations and Threat Intelligence.
A key driver of CrowdStrike’s customer growth is its Falcon Flex subscription model, which streamlines security adoption with modular and scalable solutions. This flexibility fosters long-term customer commitments, fueling steady revenue growth and deeper platform integration.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, annual recurring revenue (ARR) from Falcon Flex customers reached $1.35 billion, which more than tripled from last year’s level. The growing adoption of Falcon Flex is expected to positively benefit this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s prospects in the upcoming quarters. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
CrowdStrike Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
CrowdStrike price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | CrowdStrike Quote
Fortinet is a global leader in network security and firewalls with a growing platform approach, taking an active role in enabling enterprises against cloud and endpoint security. Fortinet delivers its security solutions through its unified FortiOS platform. FortiOS is a single operating system that runs across Fortinet’s firewalls, SD-WAN, SASE, and security operations products. Customers can manage security across endpoints, cloud workloads, and critical infrastructure using the same system.
Fortinet earns a large part of its revenues from recurring software licenses and security services that are bundled with its hardware products. As customers expand their use of Fortinet’s platform, service revenues continue to grow steadily. The company is also focusing on Unified SASE, which allows customers to add cloud-based security features on top of their existing firewall and networking setup.
A key growth driver is FortiSASE. In the third quarter of 2025, FortiSASE billings grew by more than 100% year over year. Unified SASE billings increased 19% and now account for 26% of total billings. Adoption is also improving, with 15% of Fortinet’s large enterprise customers now using FortiSASE. This figure increased more than 55% from last year.
The above-mentioned factors demonstrate how customers are expanding their use of Fortinet’s platform rather than adding new vendors, which bodes well for this Zacks Rank #3 company’s prospects in the upcoming quarters.
Fortinet, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Fortinet, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Fortinet, Inc. Quote
Zscaler is one of the world’s leading providers of cloud-based security solutions. Zscaler offers a full range of enterprise network security services, including web security, Internet security, antivirus, vulnerability management, firewalls, and control over user activity in mobile, cloud computing, and Internet of Things environments.
Zscaler’s three main growth areas include AI Security, Zero Trust Everywhere and Data Security Everywhere, which have crossed the $1 billion milestone in ARR, growing faster than the company’s overall business. AI Security alone reached $400 million ARR at the end of the first quarter and is expected to exceed $500 million in fiscal 2026 as enterprises adopt AI Guard and agentic operations.
Zero Trust Everywhere has already attracted more than 450 enterprises, achieving its target of 390 enterprises in fiscal 2026. Data Security ARR rose to $450 million, with strong upsell opportunities as most customers use only a few modules today. These three pillars are likely to create strong, diversified drivers for this Zacks Rank #3 company’s future growth.
Zscaler, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Zscaler, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Zscaler, Inc. Quote