CrowdStrike Is Up 124% in 2026, Fortinet Is Up 142%: Take Profits, or Hold On for the Ride?

CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD | CRWD Price Prediction) stock trades at $262.31, up 124% so far this year. A rally of that size puts a hard question in front of anyone holding shares of the cybersecurity leader: lock in some gains, or stay with a company demonstrating strong results?

Meanwhile, Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock has climbed even further, up 142% this year to $192.49. Notably, Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) stock trades at $401, up 118% this year, a smaller gain than either rival. All three stocks now carry gains that raise the stakes for every upcoming earnings report.

For sector-level context, the First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:CIBR) is up 52% this year at $107.98, a far smaller gain than its largest holdings have delivered. Over the same stretch, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is up 21% at $745.75, trailing the cybersecurity fund. That spread between the leaders and their own sector fund is at the center of the take-profits debate, because concentration in a few winners can cut both ways.

CrowdStrike’s Record Quarter Raised the Bar

On CrowdStrike’s August 26 call for Q2 FY2027, Chief Executive George Kurtz reported record net new annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $333 million, up 51% year over year, and ending ARR of $5.84 billion. Kurtz called it the best quarter in the company’s history and tied the demand to enterprises securing their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). He also described AI agents themselves as a new category of attacker, adding that “Every enterprise will run on AI, and securing it is the largest market opportunity in our history.”

Kurtz reported revenue of $1.47 billion, up 26%, along with record operating income of $372 million. Chief Financial Officer Burt Podbere then raised full-year net new ARR growth guidance to 34% at the midpoint, signaling confidence that the momentum can carry through the back half of the fiscal year.

Three Business Models, One Sector Re-Rating

That Fortinet stock has gained more this year than CrowdStrike stock suggests the move is a sector re-rating that extends well beyond one company, and even Palo Alto stock, with the smallest gain of the three, sits far ahead of the sector fund. Hardware-linked and subscription-driven models have both been paid off, which spreads the rally across very different ways of selling security.

For CrowdStrike, the bullish argument rests on timing. The acceleration management described is recent, and the company has raised its growth outlook twice in two quarters. A business that keeps lifting its own targets while enterprises race to secure AI can keep compounding.

Skeptics counter that CrowdStrike stock has run far ahead of the sector fund, so the gap between the large names and the group they sit in has extended. Any stock priced for acceleration can punish a quarter that merely meets expectations, and riding a run this hot works best with an exit plan already written (we wrote a free handbook on that balance here). In that environment, a solid report could still weigh on CrowdStrike shares if growth only holds steady.

What to Watch Next

The key question for CrowdStrike now is whether the raised guidance lasts the next quarter, and whether the record quarter set a new baseline or marked a high point. Management’s commentary on AI-driven demand can matter as much as the headline figures.

Investors sitting on large gains in CRWD and/or FTNT shares should size their positions so that one disappointing quarter won’t do excessive damage. Cutting or adding in stages can help investors manage their risk without trying to call a top in a sector that has re-rated this sharply.

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