Wedbush analysts have identified four cybersecurity companies they consider the most compelling investment opportunities as the industry prepares for the RSA Conference. In the firm's assessment, the recent sell-off in cybersecurity stocks reflects an excessive market reaction to the arrival of AI-native security tools, and it underestimates how artificial intelligence is changing both attacker behavior and enterprise security priorities.
The firm characterizes the current market environment as a "prove it moment" for cybersecurity vendors and says the conference will arrive amid elevated investor concern following product launches from Anthropic and OpenAI. Those launches prompted questions about whether new AI-native offerings could structurally displace incumbent security platforms.
After engaging with dozens of chief information security officers and chief information officers, Wedbush concluded that the new AI tools are being integrated by enterprises as defensive accelerants - designed to speed vulnerability discovery and remediation - rather than as wholesale replacements for existing endpoint, identity, cloud, and security operations center (SOC) components that organizations rely on.
The firm argues that AI is expanding demand for comprehensive cybersecurity solutions. According to Wedbush, advances in AI have cut the cost, skill barrier, and time required to carry out sophisticated attacks, while also increasing their scale and precision. That dynamic, the analysts say, drives the need for broader platforms capable of addressing more complex threat surfaces.
Wedbush points to AI agents and autonomous workflows as specific factors enlarging the attack surface. The proliferation of application programming interfaces, machine identities, and cloud-native workloads is creating new vectors that legacy point solutions were not designed to address, the analysts contend.
Wedbush's top four cybersecurity stock picks
- CrowdStrike - Ranked as Wedbush's top pick in the cybersecurity sector. The firm cites CrowdStrike's positioning to benefit as attack frequency, success rates, and potential blast radius grow in the AI era. Recent product introductions at CrowdStrike include an AI-powered managed detection and response service called Agentic MDR and a Falcon Data Security solution aimed at preventing data theft.
- Palo Alto Networks - Wedbush's second choice. The analysts expect Palo Alto Networks to showcase broad platform coverage and deep AI integration, a combination they see as attractive as enterprises seek to reduce vendor count and consolidate spending. Palo Alto Networks recently updated its Prisma Browser to address security concerns tied to autonomous AI agents. Separately, Wells Fargo initiated coverage on the company with an overweight rating.
- Check Point Software - Placed third on Wedbush's list. The firm argues that the complexity and speed of modern attacks make fragmented point solutions increasingly untenable, an environment that could favor Check Point. The company announced the formation of an Executive Advisory Board to help guide its strategy and launched a Secure AI Advisory Service geared toward enterprises. Following its latest results, Stephens cut its price target on the company, while TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating.
- Zscaler - Wedbush's fourth pick, which the analysts believe is well positioned to benefit from sustained budget resilience across certain sub-verticals and from trends toward wallet share consolidation. Zscaler reported fiscal second-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 26% year-over-year. Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Overweight rating, and firms including TD Cowen and BMO Capital adjusted their price targets lower.
Overall, Wedbush underscores cybersecurity as a defensive segment within enterprise software that the Street may be undervaluing over the next 12 to 18 months. The analysts emphasize that rather than shrinking demand, AI appears to be broadening both the scope and urgency of enterprise security needs.
Investors should note the mixed signals present in analyst activity and market moves cited in the firm's assessment - including coverage initiations and price target adjustments across several of the named companies - which reflect differing views on near-term fundamentals and valuation even as firms evolve product portfolios to address AI-related threats.
The RSA Conference backdrop and the recent introduction of AI-native security tools by prominent AI providers have heightened scrutiny of the space. Wedbush's conversations with chief information security officers and chief information officers form the basis for its view that new AI tools will be adopted as complementary defenses, accelerating discovery and remediation workflows rather than displacing incumbent platform infrastructure.
As enterprises deploy more AI-driven capabilities, Wedbush expects the combination of larger attack surfaces, increased automation, and more sophisticated adversary tooling to favor vendors that offer integrated, platform-level solutions capable of addressing endpoint, identity, cloud, and SOC requirements.