CrowdStrike Shares Tumble Nearly 20% in Two Days as Anthropic’s AI Security Tool Rattles Cybersecurity Stocks
Monday saw a further 10.6% drop in CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ: CRWD) shares, continuing a severe two-day slide that has reduced the cyber
Quick overview
- CrowdStrike Holdings experienced a 10.6% drop in shares on Monday, contributing to a nearly 20% decline over two days.
- The decline was triggered by the release of Anthropic's Claude Code Security, which raised concerns in the cybersecurity industry.
- CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz defended his company's position, stating that Claude Code Security and CrowdStrike's Falcon platform serve different purposes in the security lifecycle.
- Analysts suggest the selloff reflects CrowdStrike's high valuation rather than a direct threat from new AI technologies.
Monday saw a further 10.6% drop in CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ: CRWD) shares, continuing a severe two-day slide that has reduced the cybersecurity behemoth’s market value by almost 20%. The company was valued at more than 21 times its yearly sales, which left little space for uncertainty, but the stock finished at $350.33, down from its previous levels.
Anthropic’s Friday release of Claude Code Security, a new feature integrated into the AI company’s main Claude model, served as the impetus. The technology, which was created to identify high-severity vulnerabilities in open-source software repositories and automatically recommend fixes, shocked the whole cybersecurity industry. Fortinet and Okta declined about 6%, Palo Alto Networks fell 3%, SentinelOne lost 5%, while Zscaler and Datadog both sank about 11%.
Crowdstrike CEO Pushes Back, and Claude Agrees With Him
George Kurtz, the CEO of CrowdStrike, quickly put up a defense. He employed a novel strategy to support his claim that Claude Code Security and CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform are not rivals in a lengthy LinkedIn article he published over the weekend: he asked Claude itself.
The AI’s answer was clear-cut. It clarified that Claude Code Security is a proactive, development-stage tool that detects flaws in source code prior to deployment. In contrast, CrowdStrike’s Falcon technology provides reactive, operational security by identifying and addressing threats in real time across live endpoints. “They sit at completely different points in the security lifecycle,” Claude stated to Kurtz. “It competes more directly with static analysis tools like Snyk, Checkmarx, or Veracode.”
Kurtz went one step further and claimed that the development of AI increases rather than lessens the necessity for cybersecurity. He said that solutions like Falcon are more important than ever because AI platforms like Anthropic’s are also targets that require security from hackers.
Analysts Echo the Skepticism Toward the CRWD Selloff
Kurtz was supported by a number of Wall Street analysts. Security infrastructure analyst and director Shrenik Kothari of Robert W. Baird described the market response as “a panic-driven, narrative-led selloff.” He emphasized that Claude Code Security is unable to manage production software components, detect live incursions, or halt ongoing attacks—essential features offered by well-known security solutions.
Citing favorable reseller feedback prior to the company’s March 3 earnings announcement and reaffirming that its AI-driven Falcon solution is still essential in a changing threat landscape, Stifel reduced its price objective on CrowdStrike from $600 to $480 per share while keeping a Buy rating.
Crowdstrike Stock’s Valuation Was Always the Vulnerability
Putting analyst commentary aside, the market’s response might speak more about CrowdStrike’s exorbitant value than it does about Anthropic’s new technology. The stock was priced for a future with no significant competition challenges, with almost 21 times sales coming into this week. Sharp declines at those multiples can be triggered by even slight uncertainty about pricing pressure or market share, much alone actual disruption.
The two-day freefall of CrowdStrike serves as a reminder that when equities are priced for perfection, the market rarely waits for confirmation before selling first and asking questions later, regardless of whether Claude Code Security is a genuine long-term threat or just a passing fright.
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