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Will CRWD's Acquisitions of Fiddler and Dreadnode Boost its AI Growth?
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Key Takeaways
CRWD plans to acquire Fiddler AI and Dreadnode to expand Falcon's AI security testing and monitoring tools.
Dreadnode will enhance Falcon's AI security testing by detecting vulnerabilities in attack strategies.
Fiddler will add AI agent monitoring and explainability, with Falcon Observe expected in Q4 FY2027.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD - Free Report) is expanding its AI security portfolio through two planned acquisitions, Fiddler AI and Dreadnode. Both deals are aimed at helping enterprises secure artificial intelligence (AI) models and agents as they move from development to production. Dreadnode specializes in automated AI security testing, while Fiddler AI provides AI agent observability and explainability. These additions are expected to extend the Falcon platform's capabilities and help enterprises identify security risks before deployment and monitor AI agent behavior after deployment.
Dreadnode will add automated security testing to CrowdStrike's Falcon platform. Its technology tests AI models, applications and agents for weaknesses such as jailbreaks, prompt injection and other attacks. It can run more than 100 known AI attack strategies and rank findings based on their severity. The technology will also help security teams identify weaknesses and decide whether AI systems are ready for deployment. Dreadnode's findings will feed into Falcon Guardian as policy recommendations, helping CrowdStrike connect security testing with real-time protection.
Fiddler will add AI agent observability and explainability to the Falcon platform. Its technology will help enterprises track what AI agents do, understand why they make certain decisions and identify problems such as behavioral changes, hallucinations and unintended actions. Fiddler will also provide pre-deployment evaluation, trace agent decisions and support compliance reviews. CrowdStrike plans to offer these capabilities through Falcon Observe, which is expected to become generally available in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027.
Both acquisitions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027, which will allow CrowdStrike to address different stages of the AI lifecycle. Dreadnode will help identify security weaknesses before AI systems enter production, while Fiddler will help enterprises monitor and understand agent behavior during actual use. As businesses deploy more AI agents, the need to test their security and track their actions could increase. By adding these capabilities to Falcon, CrowdStrike aims to expand its AI security offerings and create more opportunities to sell its platform to enterprise customers.
How Competitors Fare Against CRWD
Competitors like Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW - Free Report) and Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT - Free Report) are also gaining ground through platform expansion and AI innovation through acquisitions.
In September 2026, Palo Alto Networks acquired Console, an AI-native platform that enables automated workflows across enterprise operations. The technology will strengthen PANW’s Cortex platform by helping security teams investigate alerts, prioritize issues and take action across their environments. Console also enables users to interact with enterprise data and build AI-driven workflows using natural language. This will help PANW automate security operations and reduce the manual work involved in investigating and resolving security issues.
Fortinet is also strengthening its AI security portfolio through its August 2026 acquisition of Virtue AI, a provider of AI runtime protection and automated AI validation. The technology enables enterprises to test autonomous AI agents for security weaknesses through simulated attacks, including prompt injection. It also provides visibility into AI agents, monitors their behavior and blocks malicious tool calls before they are executed. In addition, Virtue AI offers continuous testing and real-time security controls across AI models, applications and agents. These capabilities will extend Fortinet's AI protection from development to runtime.
CRWD’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of CrowdStrike have surged 64.1% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Security industry’s appreciation of 59.6%.
CRWD’s YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, CrowdStrike trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 35.05, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 17.55. The Zacks Value Score of F suggests that CRWD stock is overvalued.
CRWD’s Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CrowdStrike’s fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 35.5% and 28.2%, respectively. The estimates for fiscal 2027 and 2028 have remained unchanged over the past 30 days.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Shutterstock
Will CRWD's Acquisitions of Fiddler and Dreadnode Boost its AI Growth?
Key Takeaways
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD - Free Report) is expanding its AI security portfolio through two planned acquisitions, Fiddler AI and Dreadnode. Both deals are aimed at helping enterprises secure artificial intelligence (AI) models and agents as they move from development to production. Dreadnode specializes in automated AI security testing, while Fiddler AI provides AI agent observability and explainability. These additions are expected to extend the Falcon platform's capabilities and help enterprises identify security risks before deployment and monitor AI agent behavior after deployment.
Dreadnode will add automated security testing to CrowdStrike's Falcon platform. Its technology tests AI models, applications and agents for weaknesses such as jailbreaks, prompt injection and other attacks. It can run more than 100 known AI attack strategies and rank findings based on their severity. The technology will also help security teams identify weaknesses and decide whether AI systems are ready for deployment. Dreadnode's findings will feed into Falcon Guardian as policy recommendations, helping CrowdStrike connect security testing with real-time protection.
Fiddler will add AI agent observability and explainability to the Falcon platform. Its technology will help enterprises track what AI agents do, understand why they make certain decisions and identify problems such as behavioral changes, hallucinations and unintended actions. Fiddler will also provide pre-deployment evaluation, trace agent decisions and support compliance reviews. CrowdStrike plans to offer these capabilities through Falcon Observe, which is expected to become generally available in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027.
Both acquisitions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027, which will allow CrowdStrike to address different stages of the AI lifecycle. Dreadnode will help identify security weaknesses before AI systems enter production, while Fiddler will help enterprises monitor and understand agent behavior during actual use. As businesses deploy more AI agents, the need to test their security and track their actions could increase. By adding these capabilities to Falcon, CrowdStrike aims to expand its AI security offerings and create more opportunities to sell its platform to enterprise customers.
How Competitors Fare Against CRWD
Competitors like Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW - Free Report) and Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT - Free Report) are also gaining ground through platform expansion and AI innovation through acquisitions.
In September 2026, Palo Alto Networks acquired Console, an AI-native platform that enables automated workflows across enterprise operations. The technology will strengthen PANW’s Cortex platform by helping security teams investigate alerts, prioritize issues and take action across their environments. Console also enables users to interact with enterprise data and build AI-driven workflows using natural language. This will help PANW automate security operations and reduce the manual work involved in investigating and resolving security issues.
Fortinet is also strengthening its AI security portfolio through its August 2026 acquisition of Virtue AI, a provider of AI runtime protection and automated AI validation. The technology enables enterprises to test autonomous AI agents for security weaknesses through simulated attacks, including prompt injection. It also provides visibility into AI agents, monitors their behavior and blocks malicious tool calls before they are executed. In addition, Virtue AI offers continuous testing and real-time security controls across AI models, applications and agents. These capabilities will extend Fortinet's AI protection from development to runtime.
CRWD’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of CrowdStrike have surged 64.1% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Security industry’s appreciation of 59.6%.
CRWD’s YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, CrowdStrike trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 35.05, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 17.55. The Zacks Value Score of F suggests that CRWD stock is overvalued.
CRWD’s Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CrowdStrike’s fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 35.5% and 28.2%, respectively. The estimates for fiscal 2027 and 2028 have remained unchanged over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CrowdStrike currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.