Cybersecurity Earnings: 1 AI Standout and 2 Stocks Under Pressure

Key Points

• Okta surged nearly 48% over two days after beating estimates and citing strong demand for its AI agent identity offerings.
• Zscaler dropped more than 31% despite a beat-and-raise quarter, as investors focused on a lowered free cash flow margin outlook and slowing ARR growth guidance.
• CrowdStrike fell 7% after its fiscal Q1 2027 report despite beating estimates and raising net new ARR growth guidance by 520 basis points to 27.7%.

Cybersecurity earnings delivered a sharp split this week, even as three major names all topped expectations and raised their outlooks. The difference came down to quality, guidance, and confidence in the AI opportunity.

One company delivered a clean quarter and showed clear signs of AI-driven momentum, sending shares higher. Two others sold off as investors focused on softer spots beneath the headline beats. Here are the key takeaways from the latest round of cybersecurity earnings.

The latest cybersecurity earnings reports show that investors are rewarding clean execution—and punishing anything less.

Okta Surges on a Clean Beat and AI Agent Identity Momentum

Identity and access management giant Okta NASDAQ: OKTA was the standout in this cybersecurity earnings cycle.

The day after Okta's fiscal Q1 2027 earnings report was released, the stock popped 30% and then climbed another 13% the next day, for a total two-day gain of nearly 48%.

The firm saw revenue grow by just over 11% year over year (YOY) to $765 million, handily beating estimates near $752 million.

Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose by 6% YOY to 91 cents. This was much better than analyst expectations of 85 cents, which implied a decline of 1% YOY.

Adding to the positives, Okta also raised the midpoints of both its full-year revenue and adjusted operating margin guidance. These figures each increased by 50 basis points to 9.5% YOY and 25.5%, respectively.

Notably, current remaining performance obligations (RPOs) rose 12% YOY, while total RPOs grew 16% YOY. Both figures ran ahead of revenue growth, pointing to building demand momentum.

Importantly, the company noted strong demand for its AI agent identity offerings, which was key to the stock’s rise. As companies deploy more AI agents, they need tools to verify, govern, and secure nonhuman users alongside employee identities. If Okta can become a preferred identity layer for AI agents, the company may gain a stronger role in enterprise cybersecurity budgets.

Zscaler Sells Off as Guidance Raises Growth and Cash Flow Questions

On the flip side, zero-trust cloud security provider Zscaler NASDAQ: ZS was punished after earnings as investors looked past its beat-and-raise results and focused on concerns beneath the headline numbers.

Overall, the stock plummeted more than 31% after its fiscal Q3 2026 earnings report was released and did not see a substantial recovery in the following days.

This came despite Zscaler posting significant beats on both the top and bottom line. Revenue came in at over $850 million, rising by 25% YOY, and was well above estimates of $835 million. Adjusted EPS grew even more by 28% YOY to $1.08, solidly above analysts' expectations of $1.01.

The company’s guidance included both positives and negatives. The company raised its full-year revenue growth forecast to 24.6% to 24.7%, up from its prior view of 24%. However, management framed its growth outlook as cautious, given the recent departure of two top sales leaders

The bigger concerns came from profitability and future growth. Zscaler lowered its free cash flow margin outlook, with the midpoint falling from 26.75% to 23.1%. It also guided for 16% to 17% annual recurring revenue growth next fiscal year, a sharp slowdown from its current-year ARR growth expectation of 24%.

With the stock trading at more than 40x earnings heading into the report, investors had little patience for signs of margin pressure and slowing growth.

Despite Zscaler’s massive post-earnings drop, Wall Street analysts are pointing to a big-time recovery ahead. The MarketBeat consensus price target on Zscaler currently sits near $216, implying more than 65% upside in shares. However, targets did move down meaningfully after the report. The average of updated targets is approximately $193—still implying very strong upside of almost 50%. Introducing quality replacements for its lost sales leaders could help the company raise its growth forecasts in the future.

CrowdStrike Slips as a Strong Report Runs Into a High Bar

One of the biggest names in cybersecurity, CrowdStrike NASDAQ: CRWD, also tumbled after reporting its fiscal Q1 2027 report.

Overall, the stock took a 7% hit, despite CrowdStrike posting two beats and a raise.

However, when considering the extremely strong run CrowdStrike shares had going into the report, this drop was small. Just prior to the report, CrowdStrike shares were up more than 80% in Q2 2026.

Revenue grew by 26% YOY to $1.39 billion, moderately exceeding estimates of $1.36 billion. EPS rose by a whopping 51% YOY to $1.10, beating analyst estimates of $1.07.

CrowdStrike also increased its net new ARR growth guidance for its full fiscal year by a very significant 520 basis points to 27.7%. The company now expects net new ARR growth to accelerate compared to the prior year.

Furthermore, the company noted that Anthropic’s Mythos model has “created an inflection point around ARR for our business.” CrowdStrike is one of the few companies with access to Anthropic’s most advanced model. With early access, they are among the best-positioned companies to fight back against the highly advanced AI cyber threat potential that Mythos brought to the forefront. Notably, CrowdStrike says its AI detection and response pipeline rose by more than 250% in one quarter to more than $50 million.