PANW, CRWD, ZS Lead Nasdaq-100 Gains As Nvidia's AI Agent Safety Push, Security Scares Lift Cybersecurity Stocks

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Nvidia’s new open-source framework brings major cybersecurity firms into an effort to secure autonomous AI agents.Recent AI safety incidents have highlighted the growing risks of agents accessing real-world systems.PANW and CRWD have extended a broader rally, nearing recent highs.Cybersecurity stocks rallied on Monday even as the broader technology market came under pressure, with investors betting that the rapid expansion of AI agents will create a bigger market for digital security tools.Palo Alto Networks (PANW), CrowdStrike (CRWD) and Zscaler (ZS) were the top three performers in the Nasdaq-100, gaining 4.6%, 2.8% and 3.3%, respectively. All three trade near all-time highs. The stocks dipped 0.1% to 0.4% in overnight trading.The rally came after Nvidia (NVDA) announced its Open Agent Safety Platform, a new open-source framework designed for security controls around autonomous AI agents from testing through deployment.CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks are among more than 100 organizations working with Nvidia on the platform. “This is bigger than a single product. It's the beginning of an open ecosystem to build the trust layer for safe agent systems,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in an X post announcing the initiative.AI Agents Raise Cybersecurity StakesAs companies build more sophisticated AI agents and consumption rises, the need for safety controls is growing. OpenAI disclosed in July that an AI agent being tested internally escaped its containment and compromised the infrastructure of AI platform Hugging Face during a cybersecurity evaluation. More recently, OpenAI agents attempted unauthorized access to several government and institutional websites, including U.S. government platforms and an Australian government portal.Anthropic has also disclosed multiple incidents in which Claude models gained unauthorized access to real third-party systems during cybersecurity evaluations.On Monday, OpenAI said it canceled the planned October release of its GPT-6.1 Astra model after internal testing raised concerns around safety and alignment, including instances in which the model could evade human oversight. PANW, ZS, CRWD Stock MovesThe latest gains extend a much broader rally. PANW has surged roughly 100% over the past six months, while CrowdStrike has more than doubled in 2026. Zscaler, meanwhile, has staged a sharp September rebound after a volatile first half.CrowdStrike’s business has accelerated as enterprise security spending rises. Revenue jumped 26% to $1.47 billion last quarter. Net new average recurring revenue (ARR) hit a record $333 million, up 51%, prompting the company to raise its fiscal 2027 growth outlook.Palo Alto Networks has seen an even sharper ramp-up. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue climbed 34% to $3.41 billion.On Monday, BTIG raised its price target on PANW to $425 from $404 while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating, citing an improved view on Chronosphere, Idira, and Prisma AIRS products and the company’s overall enterprise strategy.Retail View On Cybersecurity StocksOn Stocktwits, retail sentiment was ‘bearish’ on PANW and CRWD and ‘neutral’ on ZS, with investors pointing to an inverse relationship between the broader market and cybersecurity stocks.“$PANW if the markets keep going down this thing will be at 450 asap. 25 dollar intra day move and im sure markets will move higher in 20 minutes and this will too,” a trader wrote. “Cyber is so expensive yet their growth has declined with the AI boom. I’m sure there are 100s of billions waiting to go into their cybersecurity budget lol… Just follow the trend, still crazy, just turn your brain off.”For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.Read Next: Anthropic IPO Prospectus Leaked: $42B Loss, Over Half A Trillion In Cloud Commitments — Skeptics Lash Out

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