Prediction: Cybersecurity Spending Will Be Recession-Proof in 2026. Here Are 2 Stocks to Buy.
Key Points
Anthropic has announced Project Glasswing to promote cybersecurity as the power of AI expands.
Cybersecurity specialist CrowdStrike is a key partner in Project Glasswing.
Microsoft is another player in Project Glasswing, and it has its fingers in a broad spectrum of technology.
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It is hard to get a read on what Wall Street expects from artificial intelligence (AI) because the technology is developing so rapidly. News from AI industry leaders like Anthropic can lead to massive changes in investor perception. When it comes to cybersecurity, Anthropic's recently announced Project Glasswing suggests that companies like CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are well-positioned even in the AI age. Here's why you might want to buy each one.
Bad players will never go away
Here's an unfortunate truth of life: there will always be bad people who do bad things. There's no need to try to understand why bad people do what they do; it is enough to know that you will never rid the world of such people. The best you can do is try to protect yourself from them. When it comes to technology, that means cybersecurity.
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There's an argument to be made that artificial intelligence can be used in a cybersecurity context. However, cybercriminals will use AI as well. So companies need more than just AI, which is why Anthropic's Project Glasswing is so notable. It is an admission that AI alone can't handle the cybersecurity threat; it has to be a partnership with human-driven businesses.
The list of partners that Anthropic is working with on Project Glasswing is impressive, including Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Web Services, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Google, JPMorganChase (NYSE: JPM), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), CrowdStrike, and Microsoft, among others. CrowdStrike and Microsoft are two you might want to look at right now.
CrowdStrike has specific cybersecurity knowledge
CrowdStrike specializes in what's often called endpoint security, which means it sits at the frontlines of cybersecurity risk. It helps protect things like computers, cellphones, and tablets from cyber threats. In other words, it lives where humans are interacting with technology. Even with AI, that's going to remain an important risk point when it comes to cybersecurity.
That will be as true in 2026 as it will be in future decades. But the key story around CrowdStrike is that it is really a service provider with subscriptions making up the vast majority of its top line. That's recurring income that is annuity-like in nature, noting that the company had a 97% retention rate in its most recent quarter. With the stock down more than 20% from its 52-week high, the price looks fairly reasonable from a historical perspective with a price-to-sales ratio that is in line with its five-year average.
Microsoft touches everything and looks cheaper than it has in years
Microsoft isn't a cybersecurity specialist, though it plays an important role across many parts of the cybersecurity effort. All in, it is one of the world's largest and most diversified tech companies. This is likely the reason why Microsoft is part of Project Glasswing. However, the real reason to be interested in the shares today is more mundane: the stock has fallen 30% from its 52-week high.
That's left the stocks' price-to-sales, price-to-earnings, and price-to-book ratios below the norms of the past few years. The stock is still expensive on an absolute basis, but for tech investors who believe AI is changing everything, Microsoft is a solid way to cover a lot of ground, including cybersecurity.
Criminals aren't going away in 2026
Human nature isn't going to change in 2026. While companies like Anthropic and its Project Glasswing partners CrowdStrike and Microsoft are working to improve cybersecurity, criminals will be using AI to do bad things. It's why Anthropic created Project Glasswing, which is based on an AI so powerful that it trained itself to become a world-class hacker. If you are a long-term growth investor, it could make sense to pick up some shares of CrowdStrike and Microsoft while Wall Street is downbeat on their prospects even though AI companies like Anthropic see them as vital cybersecurity partners.
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JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Cisco Systems, CrowdStrike, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, and Nvidia and is short shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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