CRWD, PANW, ZS: BTIG Slams “Arms Race” Fears, Stock Selloff after Anthropic’s New Model

Analysts have once again started dismissing jitters surrounding a new Anthropic model tailored for cybersecurity. BTIG has described media reports framing the new model as risking a new “arms race” as “completely wrong.”

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Shares of cybersecurity companies such as CrowdStrike CRWD -5.87% ▼ , Palo Alto Networks PANW -5.97% ▼ , and Zscaler ZS -5.89% ▼ plunged on Friday after a draft blog post on Anthropic’s new Claude Mythos model became public. According to Fortune, the new model is Anthropic’s most powerful yet.

Is AI Fueling Cyber Threats?

The report notes that the AI startup is still testing the new tool — which is said to have improved cybersecurity capabilities — and anticipates a slow rollout due to potential security concerns. However, BTIG argued that investors and the media are misinterpreting what the update means.

The financial services company contended that the update is essentially a warning about how AI heightens cyber risks, a situation that could have the opposite effect of what investors fear: generate more demand for cybersecurity vendors.

To support its argument, BTIG reaffirmed its Buy rating on the aforementioned cybersecurity stocks and others: Cloudflare NET -3.38% ▼ , Netskope NTSK -8.84% ▼ , Okta OKTA -7.75% ▼ , Rubrik RBRK -3.91% ▼ , and SailPoint SAIL -4.15% ▼ .

‘Software Will Eat AI’

The investment bank’s latest dismissal comes just weeks after several analysts similarly defended cybersecurity stocks, calling the selloff that trailed last month’s preview of Anthropic’s Claude Code Security as “overdone.”

In its noted title “Software will eat AI,” HSBC HSBC -0.55% ▼ argued that traditional software vendors are in a particularly strong position to develop AI-driven products, tapping into their years of experience in designing and beta-testing embedded AI agents.

Similarly, BTIG analyst Gray Powell last week described data security solutions provider Rubrik as “an underappreciated AI-driven growth story.” Powell predicted revenue growth for the company due to the surge in ransomware and wiper attacks in recent years.

Which Is the Best Cybersecurity Stock to Buy?

Of all the cybersecurity firms mentioned in this article, Netskope NTSK -8.84% ▼ currently offers the biggest upside of 125.67%, according to the TipRanks Stock Comparison tool. This comes with a Strong Buy rating and an average price target of $17.67.

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