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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Fortinet and Qualys
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 15, 2026 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) and Qualys (QLYS - Free Report)
2 Top Cybersecurity Stocks to Buy Amid AI Safety Fears
Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged the industry to slow development of its most powerful AI models so safeguards can catch up, drawing support from Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman.
The push highlights concerns that increasingly capable AI systems could outpace human oversight, making stronger security, testing, and monitoring more urgent.
Investors worry that slower development could eventually reduce spending on chips, servers, and data centers. However, concerns about future demand are not the same as announced spending cuts, and analysts are skeptical that the safety push will derail infrastructure investment.
For investors, the debate also highlights an opportunity in companies helping businesses use AI more securely.
Fortinet – FTNT: Protecting AI Infrastructure
Fortinet helps secure the networks, cloud workloads, and data underpinning AI systems. Its FortiAI offerings address unauthorized access, sensitive-data leakage, and attacks targeting AI applications—important protections as businesses connect more AI tools to their operations. This positions Fortinet to benefit from greater emphasis on securing deployments, rather than simply accelerating them.
The operating momentum is compelling. Second-quarter revenue increased nearly 26% to $2.05 billion, while billings climbed 33% to $2.37 billion and adjusted EPS rose 41% to $0.90. Management also raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $8.02-$8.18 billion, representing roughly 19% growth. These results support the investment case beyond enthusiasm surrounding AI security.
Qualys – QLYS: Finding and Fixing AI Security Risks
Qualys identifies vulnerabilities and helps organizations prioritize remediation. Its TotalAI platform extends that role to AI applications by discovering unapproved AI usage, testing models for manipulation, and monitoring risks from development through production. These capabilities directly address the need for better visibility and controls as enterprise AI adoption expands.
The company's Q2 revenue grew 11% to $182.2 million, while operating cash flow jumped 77% to $59.6 million. Qualys raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $732-$738 million (+9% YoY growth) and lifted its adjusted EPS forecast to $7.74-$7.88 (+9% YoY growth), up from $7.44-$7.65. Improving sales expectations and strong cash generation provide tangible support for its AI-security opportunity.
Bottom Line
Fortinet and Qualys both sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and are two ideal stocks to consider as AI safety takes center stage. Their raised outlooks strengthen the case, although neither cybersecurity platform eliminates every risk associated with advanced AI.
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Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can tap into those powerful strategies – and the high-potential stocks they uncover – free. No strings attached.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Fortinet and Qualys
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 15, 2026 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) and Qualys (QLYS - Free Report)
2 Top Cybersecurity Stocks to Buy Amid AI Safety Fears
Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged the industry to slow development of its most powerful AI models so safeguards can catch up, drawing support from Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman.
The push highlights concerns that increasingly capable AI systems could outpace human oversight, making stronger security, testing, and monitoring more urgent.
Investors worry that slower development could eventually reduce spending on chips, servers, and data centers. However, concerns about future demand are not the same as announced spending cuts, and analysts are skeptical that the safety push will derail infrastructure investment.
For investors, the debate also highlights an opportunity in companies helping businesses use AI more securely.
Fortinet – FTNT: Protecting AI Infrastructure
Fortinet helps secure the networks, cloud workloads, and data underpinning AI systems. Its FortiAI offerings address unauthorized access, sensitive-data leakage, and attacks targeting AI applications—important protections as businesses connect more AI tools to their operations. This positions Fortinet to benefit from greater emphasis on securing deployments, rather than simply accelerating them.
The operating momentum is compelling. Second-quarter revenue increased nearly 26% to $2.05 billion, while billings climbed 33% to $2.37 billion and adjusted EPS rose 41% to $0.90. Management also raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $8.02-$8.18 billion, representing roughly 19% growth. These results support the investment case beyond enthusiasm surrounding AI security.
Qualys – QLYS: Finding and Fixing AI Security Risks
Qualys identifies vulnerabilities and helps organizations prioritize remediation. Its TotalAI platform extends that role to AI applications by discovering unapproved AI usage, testing models for manipulation, and monitoring risks from development through production. These capabilities directly address the need for better visibility and controls as enterprise AI adoption expands.
The company's Q2 revenue grew 11% to $182.2 million, while operating cash flow jumped 77% to $59.6 million. Qualys raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $732-$738 million (+9% YoY growth) and lifted its adjusted EPS forecast to $7.74-$7.88 (+9% YoY growth), up from $7.44-$7.65. Improving sales expectations and strong cash generation provide tangible support for its AI-security opportunity.
Bottom Line
Fortinet and Qualys both sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and are two ideal stocks to consider as AI safety takes center stage. Their raised outlooks strengthen the case, although neither cybersecurity platform eliminates every risk associated with advanced AI.
Free: Instant Access to Zacks' Market-Crushing Strategies
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can tap into those powerful strategies – and the high-potential stocks they uncover – free. No strings attached.
Get all the details here >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.