palo alto networks CEO Nikesh Arora announced his first stock purchase since November 2019, as concerns about disruption from artificial intelligence weigh on the cybersecurity sector.
The purchase price, disclosed in Friday’s SEC filing, totaled 68,085 shares for approximately $10 million. Wall Street saw the deal as a positive sign for the battered sector, sending Palo Alto’s stock price up 6%.
The stock price has fallen 15% this year.
Cybersecurity stocks have plummeted in recent months as the software sector has fallen prey to theories that new AI tools will upend long-standing business models and automate tasks.
Anthropic spooked investors in February by rolling out a tool that can scan code for vulnerabilities. Reports that the AI Research Institute is developing new and more powerful AI models that could make it easier for hackers to attack fueled panic on Friday.
Arora addressed those concerns in a blog post Monday, arguing that AI labs and cybersecurity companies should work together at the industry’s “most critical moments.”
“The stakes are high,” he wrote. “The window to act is open and we must act with intention, together, and quickly.
Arora has strengthened its cybersecurity efforts last year with the major acquisition of Israeli identity security company CyberArk, which it acquired in February. The company is also leaning into AI with new automation tools, acquiring AI observability platform Chronosphere for more than $3.3 billion.
Octa, cloud strike and netscope It rose about 3% on Monday.
Year-to-date chart of Palo Alto stock price.
