Cybersecurity platforms outperformed in 2025. Can anyone else win next year?

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Investing.com - Shares of many cybersecurity companies have surged this year, as artificial intelligence powers a new wave of digital threats from nation-state actors and ever more sophisticated ransomwear attacks.
In a note to clients, analysts at Morgan Stanley flagged that much of the returns have been skewed heavily to cybersecurity platforms likeCrowdStrike,ZscalerandPalo Alto Networks.
These groups have been particular beneficiaries of spending on digital protection by businesses otherwise reticent to shell out cash on technology against an uncertain economic backdrop.
Meanwhile, many firms have been eager to bring their online security tools together in one place, further supporting bigger platforms, the Morgan Stanley analysts said.
"Cybersecurity remains a largely best-of-breed market, with the average enterprise still deploying [more than] 50 different security tools, though willingness to consolidate continues to grow," the analysts said.
"As a result, over the last twelve months, the stocks of larger cybersecurity platforms have significantly outperformed" so-called ’point product’ vendors, which develop and sell software designed to solve a specific security issue, they added.
This trend is tipped to extend into 2026 "given that the larger cybersecurity" names have consistently provided "proof points of strong momentum across their platforms, exemplified by pockets of reaccelerating growth, as well as an affinity to continue expanding across adjacent security silos."
Yet the analysts argued that, in the wake of their success, these core platforms already trade at a "meaningful premium," presenting other opportunities within the cybersecurity segment.
"While the platforms have been the multi-year compounders within our sector, and we remain quite positive of them, there are a multitude of other names within the sector that deserve an additional look. These are names with positive AI tailwinds, checks and attractive valuations," they wrote.
Netskope andSailPointwere among the stocks who fit this category, the analysts argued.