New York, February 23, 2026, 10:49 (EST) — Regular session.
- CrowdStrike dropped close to 9% in early trading, mirroring renewed weakness across cybersecurity stocks.
- Some traders point to fresh worries about AI tools chipping away at security spending and putting pressure on software prices.
- Stifel trimmed its price target to $480, and investors are eyeing the March 3 results for more clarity.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. shares stumbled 8.8% to $354.25 in Monday morning trading. The stock opened in positive territory but quickly reversed, touching a session low of $353.61.
This decline hits at a moment when headlines about artificial intelligence replacing tasks handled by subscription software have driven investors to dump software stocks. Cybersecurity names, typically sold as essential spending, have also taken a hit.
No lift from the broader market. U.S. stocks slipped, with tech names dragging down the indexes, after President Donald Trump’s new 15% global tariff announcement. The move rekindled trade-policy jitters and sapped risk appetite.
Last week, traders flagged Anthropic’s “Claude Code Security” after the company rolled out a limited preview of its tool, designed to scan codebases for vulnerabilities and recommend patches that still require human oversight. “There’s been steady selling in software, and today it’s security that’s getting a mini-flash crash on a headline,” said Dennis Dick, head trader at Triple D Trading. Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo noted headline risk could pick up before any clear “cyber inflection” emerges from AI-driven security. The Business Times
Stifel trimmed its price target on CrowdStrike, dropping it to $480 from $600, but left its Buy rating unchanged. The firm points to valuation as the main reason, despite signs of progress in channel checks. Stifel’s Adam Borg noted that reseller checks pointed to “the second straight quarter of a modest uptick” with partners hitting expectations. TipRanks
Barclays isn’t convinced by the selloff. The firm called the reaction “incongruent,” pointing out that the new tool is more geared toward developers and doesn’t directly challenge main offerings from CrowdStrike or other big security names it tracks. TipRanks
CrowdStrike’s stock has turned into a high-beta stand-in for the broader question: will AI-native tools squeeze software margins, or does the rush to ship more code actually boost security spending? The debate isn’t just in analyst notes—it’s showing up in the way shares trade.
The risk is clear enough. If customers halt buying, ask for better pricing, or delay projects to experiment with new AI tools, that could drag on short-term growth and outlook—putting more strain on the shares.
CrowdStrike will report its fourth-quarter and full fiscal-year numbers after the U.S. market wraps up on March 3, with a conference call set for 5 p.m. ET. Investors are keen to hear updates on the sales pipeline, any shift in renewal chatter, and management’s messaging around AI-infused security offerings as they speak with customers.
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