Palo Alto CEO says slowing down AI is ‘unrealistic’, extinction threat ‘extremely small’

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) stock rose 4.25% on September 23, 2026, driven by strong cybersecurity demand and the launch of its AI-powered Continuous Frontier AI Defense service. The company reported $11.48B in annual revenue, 71.9% gross margins, and $1.25B in free cash flow. Analysts have raised price targets, with Morgan Stanley setting it at $410 and Wedbush at $400, citing AI exposure and platform dominance.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) stock rose 3.2% after launching Unit 42 Continuous Frontier AI Defense, a service that uses AI to identify and fix enterprise vulnerabilities. The company reported finding a year's worth of exposures in three weeks during internal tests. Shares were trading at $386.43, near their 52-week high of $396. The stock has seen significant volatility, up 115% year-to-date.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) stock rose 3.0% today, likely due to investor excitement around its new AI-focused security service and strong fiscal fourth-quarter results. The company announced Unit 42 Continuous Frontier AI Defense, a subscription service using models from Anthropic and OpenAI. Fiscal Q4 revenue grew 34% year-over-year to $3.41 billion, with guidance forecasting 33-34% growth for Q1 FY2027.

Palo Alto Networks' (PANW) AI security platform, Prisma AIRS, reached $100M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) within four quarters, the fastest in the company's history. It has over 800 customers, with significant deals including a $53M platformization agreement. PANW expects Network & AI Security revenues to grow at a low-double-digit rate in fiscal 2027. Competitors like CrowdStrike and SentinelOne also show strong AI-driven growth.

Bernstein analyst Peter Weed raised Zscaler's (ZS) target to $298, implying 46% upside, citing its customer retention and AI-driven growth potential. Meanwhile, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) was downgraded to Market Perform due to valuation concerns, despite its broad platform strengths. Both companies maintain significant hedge fund interest.

IBM's profit warning and CEO's comments on rising cybersecurity concerns led to a rally in cybersecurity stocks. CrowdStrike (CRWD) surged 11%, Okta (OKTA) 11%, Zscaler (ZS) 9%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 6.4%, and Fortinet 3.4%. IBM's Q2 revenue was $17.2B, missing estimates of $17.9B, with a 25% share drop.