Why Okta Stock Rocketed Higher Today
Key Points
Cybersecurity stocks gained ground amid calls by prominent CEOs to slow AI development.
Okta's multi-factor authentication and user login management tools have become critically important.
The stock isn't exactly cheap, but the road ahead is long.
- 10 stocks we like better than Okta ›
Shares of Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA) charged out of the gate Monday, gaining as much as 11.8%. As of 11:32 a.m. ET, the stock was still up 11.2%.
The catalyst that sent the cybersecurity specialist higher was the calls by prominent industry insiders for a slowdown in artificial intelligence (AI) development.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
Slow your roll
In a treatise released over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development. He said that "like many technologies before it, AI brings risks, and because it is such a powerful technology, these risks are serious." Amodei's concerns included the" risk of losing control of AI systems, misuse for cyberattacks and bioterrorism, and serious economic disruption." He pointed to the high-profile hack of Hugging Face by OpenAI models as evidence of the need for caution.
Other chief executives joined the chorus, including Space Exploration Technologies, aka SpaceX, CEO Elon Musk, who said in a post on X, "Dario is right." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also sided with Amodei, who inked his own essay, calling for "consistent rules to manage frontier (model) risk." He stopped short of calling for a moratorium, saying slowing the pace of AI development does "not mean stopping."
So what does this have to do with Okta?
One of the biggest concerns regarding AI is the potential for hackers to misuse the technology for cyberattacks. Okta's cloud-based platform manages user logins and provides multi-factor authentication to ensure that only authorized users can access organizational systems.
Justifiable concerns about the potential abuse of AI have shone a spotlight on cybersecurity and accelerated the adoption of appropriate tools to secure business systems. Okta has long been at the forefront of identity verification, a trend that will only become more important as AI proliferation continues.
At 42 times next year's expected earnings, the stock isn't exactly cheap; however, the need for Okta's services has never been greater.
Should you buy stock in Okta right now?
Before you buy stock in Okta, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Okta wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $417,413!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,294!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 950% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 14, 2026.
Danny Vena, CPA has positions in Okta. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Okta. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
