Cybersecurity stocks are in the spotlight as ever-expanding AI demand now includes data safety and agent protection.

While the broader AI sector has cooled, cybersecurity stocks have outperformed, fueling a rotation out of hardware and into software. According to research firm Gartner, information security spend will top $215 billion in 2026 despite pesky inflation and weak hiring, and frames this spending more as compliance-driven insurance rather than capex.

Today, we’ll look at five cybersecurity stocks leading this sector higher. Each stock has a minimum market cap of $5 billion with a Benzinga Edge Momentum rating of at least 90.

Palo Alto Networks Inc.

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 97.16

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) has the most momentum of any large-cap cybersecurity firm on the market, and its recent earnings help explain its recent run.

The company beat top- and bottom-line estimates in its fiscal Q3 2026 report release in June, with revenue growing more than 30% year-over-year (YoY). Earnings per share (EPS) also grew more than 6% YoY, and full-year guidance was raised to $3.79 per share, with total annual revenue between $11.41 billion and $11.43 billion. The company’s fiscal Q4 2026 report is scheduled for after-hours on September 1.

Still, analysts have already started bumping targets, including a new Street-high $475 price target from Wells Fargo on August 17, which represents upside of more than 25% from current levels.

The bullish pattern on the PANW daily chart is familiar, and one often repeated in other stocks on this list. The breakout is confirmed by a Golden Cross, which flips the 50-day moving average from resistance level to support level. Support at the 50-day is buoyed by a bullish reversal on the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is in the Goldilocks territory between 50 and 70.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 96.01

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) has a highly anticipated fiscal Q2 2027 earnings call on August 26, and the market will watch to see whether the company can continue its impressive renewal momentum.

Net new annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew more than 30%, and management raised net new ARR guidance by 500 basis points for fiscal 2027. In fiscal Q1 2027, AI Detection and Response ARR grew more than 250% sequentially, with FalconShield ARR up nearly 400%.

Only $7.8 million of net new ARR came from acquisitions, so this growth is strong and organic. The company ended fiscal Q1 2027 with nearly $600 million in operating cash flow.

CRWD shares broke out in early May, confirmed by the bullish Golden Cross later that month. The stock has been above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages ever since, and signals from the RSI and MACD hint that another bullish wave is forming. The RSI has receded from overbought levels above 70, and the MACD line and signal lines have flipped. The August 26 earnings catalyst will highlight the durability (or lack thereof) of this rally.

Qualys Inc. 

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 94.96

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) is tiny compared to the massive market caps of Palo Alto and CrowdStrike. Qualys has just a $6.47 billion market cap, and generated less than $700 million in sales over the last 12 months.

But Qualys has some of the best margins in the business, which is why it’s the only cybersecurity stock here to score above 90 on both Benzinga Edge Momentum and Quality ratings.

The company reported fiscal Q2 2027 results on August 4 and posted a record EPS of $1.98, beating expectations by more than 11% and representing YoY growth of more than 17%.

Quarterly gross margins came in at 83%, with net profit margins of 29%. Despite relatively light full-year revenue guidance, no other major cybersecurity firm can match these margins, giving it an unmatched profitability profile in the industry.

Small stocks have choppier charts, and that’s certainly the case with QLYS compared to its larger peers. But the hallmarks of a strong uptrend are all in place: a Golden Cross with the share price above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, an RSI above 50, and a MACD trending upward above the histogram.

Cloudflare Inc.

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 93.01

Cloudflare (NASDAQ:NET), the $109 billion cybersecurity conglomerate, is the purest expression of revenue growth in the industry and reported fiscal Q2 2027 earnings on August 6. Q2 revenue grew 36% YoY, its third straight quarter of sales acceleration.

cRPO (contracted remaining performance obligations) also grew 35%, meaning Cloudflare is growing current and future revenue at nearly the same clip. The company added nearly 1,000 new large customers over the last 12 months, and now counts more than 4,600 clients who spent $100,000 or more annually. EPS also hit a new record at $0.29 per share, beating consensus by more than 7%.

NET shares have been volatile, but the underlying trend appears healthy. No stock on our list has tested the 50-day moving average more during its uptrend, and each time it’s held firm as support. The RSI has also been in bullish territory since mid-June, and the MACD continues to show buying pressure leading the charge.

Rubrik Inc. 

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 92.77

Rubrik (NYSE:RBRK) has grown into a $20 billion company in just over two years, becoming one of the more exciting ‘innovator’ stocks in the cybersecurity industry.

The company has grown revenue by at least 38% in each of the previous three quarters, and has turned a surprise profit (versus a consensus loss) in each of these periods as well. Subscription revenue growth guidance (41%) versus ARR (32%) shows management is trimming expectations moving forward, but margin improvement (up to 13.2% from 8%) more than helps pick up the burden.

Management guided fiscal 2027 ARR margins to 14%, indicating even further improvement in profitability.

RBRK shares are up more than 30% YTD, but there’s evidence that this rally is in its early stages. The Golden Cross only materialized in early July, far later than the other instances we’ve reviewed on the previous four charts. The current uptrend also has strong momentum; the MACD has soared above the histogram, and the RSI has exploded into the 70s and now approaches overbought status.