New York, February 21, 2026, 10:02 (EST) — The market has closed.
- CrowdStrike tumbled almost 8% Friday, with cybersecurity stocks under pressure following Anthropic’s rollout of its latest Claude security feature.
- Cloudflare, Zscaler, Okta, and SailPoint all took hits in the selloff, pushing a cyber ETF down to its lowest finish since November 2023.
- CrowdStrike is set to report earnings on March 3, with investors watching closely for guidance and any remarks about AI competition.
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (CRWD) dropped close to 8% Friday, as cybersecurity names sold off after AI startup Anthropic rolled out a security tool for its Claude model. Shares hit $388.60 in the last trade, off 7.9% from Thursday. Volume came in around 8.4 million shares, with prices moving between $431.75 and $387.14.
U.S. markets are closed for the weekend, leaving CrowdStrike investors bracing for what’s next. The stock is staring down a key catalyst: fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, slated to drop after the U.S. close on Tuesday, March 3. A conference call follows that evening. (Barchart.com)
Selling pressure on Friday hit more than just a single stock. CrowdStrike ranked among the steepest losers. According to Bloomberg, Cloudflare tumbled 8.1%, Zscaler fell 5.5%, SailPoint lost 9.4%, and Okta dropped 9.2%. The Global X Cybersecurity ETF, which tracks a mix of cyber names, closed down 4.9%—its weakest finish since November 2023. (Bloomberg.com)
Anthropic has rolled out Claude Code Security, a tool designed to scan software codebases for vulnerabilities and propose fixes, but for now, access is restricted to a select group of enterprise and team clients, CyberScoop reported. According to the company, the tool “reads and reasons about your code the way a human researcher would,” then filters its results through verification steps to reduce false positives. (CyberScoop)
Anthropic’s Frontier Red Team chief, Logan Graham, pitched the rollout as a practical advantage for security teams stretched thin. “It’s going to be a force multiplier for security teams,” he said to Fortune. (Fortune)
Now traders are asking if AI tools could actually replace sections of the security software stack instead of just bolting on extra features. Wedbush’s Dan Ives has called the current AI-disruption theme “fighting a ghost”—investors are basically left trying to predict which part of the software landscape is about to get sideswiped. (Business Insider)
Friday brought sharp losses for software developers—JFrog tumbled 25%, GitLab fell over 8%. Cybersecurity stocks weren’t spared either, with CrowdStrike and Zscaler both in the red. Investors.com flagged the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, now off more than 23% for the year. (Investors)
Still, the product remains a research preview for now. Anthropic notes it only recommends fixes for humans to check, instead of making automatic updates. That could slow any immediate shakeups. But the bigger question lingers—enterprises might eventually let AI-driven scans take over from some dedicated tools. (Claude)
This week, CrowdStrike’s setup depends on whether buyers return following Friday’s drop—and what the company has to say about demand, pricing, and competition in its upcoming report. Investors are also primed to hear how management positions AI, watching closely for any commentary on whether it’s fueling security budgets or squeezing margins and renewals.
All eyes turn to Monday’s open, with traders waiting to see if Friday’s jolt was just a blip or the start of something bigger. But the real event circled on calendars is March 3, set for the earnings report and whatever signals come out of that call.
