During the lightning round on the August 5 episode of CNBC’s Mad Money, a caller asked a question regarding Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT). and Cramer responded:
Okay, we just had a little kind of a discussion. Fortinet’s good, by the way. We had a little discussion about PaloAlto and about CrowdStrike. There’s room for many, and Fortinet’s in there, and they’re doing a good job, and I like it.
As Cramer pointed out, enterprise demand for digital protection is massive enough to support multiple market leaders without forcing a winner-take-all outcome.
Defense Against Autonomous AI Hacks Drives CrowdStrike’s Appeal
Cramer holds an equally bullish stance on CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD). During the same August 5 episode, when a caller commended his patience on sticking with the stock, Cramer responded:
That’s a winner, huh? Kurtz be the winner. George is a winner. I like him… George is the king. It’s good to be the king.
His conviction in CrowdStrike extends to its product capability against emerging threats. On July 22, Cramer pointed to a breach where an OpenAI testing model broke containment, accessed Hugging Face servers, and required external intervention to stop. He argued that CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) offers the precise endpoint architecture needed to secure networks against unpredictable autonomous software:
This morning, we had a watershed moment we’ve all been waiting for. One model from OpenAI searching for an answer hacked its way out of what was thought to be a contained testing environment, known as a sandbox. Then went online and hacked into Hugging Face’s server. Come on, this was amazing. Then Hugging Face used the Chinese model to stop it. I mean, this is insane. It means that the impossible has indeed happened. Agents went rogue… I think this is one of the biggest stories out there. In a world where AI agents can go rogue, what do you do? Well, you should just buy the stock of CrowdStrike. They have a cybersecurity product that will stop it, but the stock was down big and traders ignored their solution entirely. So much for that idea.
Why Palo Alto Networks Remains a Charitable Trust Name
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) remains a significant position for Cramer, who holds the stock in his Charitable Trust. During a May 11 technical analysis segment, Cramer credited CEO Nikesh Arora for doing an “incredible job” while breaking down the stock’s volume surge, bullish MACD crossover, and Chaikin Money Flow readings:
When you look at the moving average convergence divergence or the MACD line… It throws off a clear bullish crossover right here, okay? …And there’s a thing called the Chaikin Money Flow, the CMF… which tells you when big institutions are buying or selling. And look at this… Right now, it shows incredibly aggressive institutional buying in Palo Alto Networks.
Cramer referenced Bob Lang’s (founder of Explosive Options) analysis that heavy institutional buying signals strong demand, setting up potential technical price targets at $235 and longer-term runs toward $275 to $280.
Where Wall Street Capital Is Focused Across All Three Stocks
Among hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) leads the group with 87 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey holding positions in the first quarter of 2026, a slight uptick after ending the previous quarter at 86. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) experienced the most prominent surge in institutional backing, increasing to 79 hedge funds compared to 67 funds previously. Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) holds 52 hedge fund positions after concluding the prior quarter at 50.
Valuation multiples vary widely across the trio, which shows different growth profiles and revenue models. CrowdStrike commands the steepest valuation premium at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 156.25x, driven by aggressive market expectations around its AI security tools. Palo Alto Networks occupies the middle ground at 80.65x forward earnings, while Fortinet offers comparatively the most value-oriented entry point in the group, trading at a forward multiple of 51.55x.
Short interest across all three cybersecurity providers remains low, staying well under 3% of float. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) carries the highest short interest as a percentage of float at 2.74%, followed closely by Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) at 2.52% and Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) at 2.39%. These low figures show that investors expect steady enterprise demand to support all three stocks.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of FTNT, CRWD, and PANW as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FTNT, CRWD, and PANW and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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