Palo Alto Networks (PANW) – AI-Powered Cybersecurity Taking Over

We recently published a list of 10 Must-Watch AI Stocks Dominating Headlines. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) stands against other must-watch AI stocks dominating headlines.

The artificial intelligence story continues to grow more compelling with each passing day. In the latest news, a top executive at Russia’s biggest bank told Reuters that Sberbank is planning to collaborate with Chinese researchers on joint AI projects. The emergence of DeepSeek has already sparked a rout in the artificial intelligence world owing to its acclaimed cheap and efficient AI models. Ever since its emergence, the race towards AI supremacy has taken on a new turn.

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Russia and China have reportedly been sharing a “no limits” strategic partnership. They have talked about cooperation in AI but nothing ever came to public knowledge before this. Sberbank, a Russian banking and financial services company headed by CEO German Gref, has since transformed itself from a former state savings bank into one of the country’s leading players in artificial intelligence. The company released its GigaChat model in 2023.

“Sberbank has many scientists. Through them, we plan to conduct joint research projects with researchers from China”.

-Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin told Reuters.

Vedyakhin did not specify who the bank plans to collaborate with, in China. Regardless, a potential partnership between Russia and China over the development of AI is in the works and will be seen as a major threat to the West. This is particularly for the US which is doing everything in its power to acclaim AI supremacy. Putin has directed Sberbank to build cooperation with China and other BRICS nations in AI to encounter U.S. dominance. Similar to China, the country is currently struggling to develop domestic computing capacity as a result of sanctions restricting imports of innovations from the West.

Discussing DeepSeek, Vedyakhin has noted that since the launch of its models, Sberbank has compared them to GigaChat MAX, its most advanced model. The comparison has led them to the conclusion that the Chinese rival was superior in scientific tasks, while GigaChat was on par or better in banking.

“DeepSeek has proven that even with reduced capabilities, it is possible to achieve quality on par with American models. This raises questions about the necessity of extreme investments when there are engineering innovations”.

-Vedyakhin.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) - AI-Powered Cybersecurity Taking Over

A cutting-edge computer lab full of IT experts monitoring the security of multiple systems.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is a leader in AI-powered cybersecurity. On February 5, Kyndryl, an IT infrastructure services provider, announced that it has launched end-to-end, secure access service edge (SASE) services in partnership with ​​Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Prisma SASE powered by Precision AI. The cloud-first, zero-trust network security solution will allow customers to enhance their network security. The ​​​​​ new SASE services support Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE, integrating network and security into a unified cloud-delivered service. The essence of this move is to help hybrid workforces simplify security while enabling customers to migrate to AI-driven cybersecurity solutions.

“Implementing a SASE approach is one of the biggest network and security initiatives for an organization to take on, requiring significant transformation. These organizations need a solution that helps them scale at the speed of their business, especially with a hybrid workforce and an ever-expanding threat landscape. We’re offering our joint customers exactly what they need to help them transform by combining Prisma SASE, the industry’s most complete AI-powered SASE solution, with Kyndryl’s new SASE services.”

-Kristy Friedrichs, Chief Partnerships Officer, Palo Alto Networks.

Overall, PANW ranks 9th on our list of must-watch AI stocks dominating headlines. While we acknowledge the potential of 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 PANW but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.