Cybersecurity stocks surge as Nvidia rallies on revenue outlook
Cybersecurity shares jumped sharply after strong AI-demand optimism, while Nvidia rose 9% on a forecast for roughly 70% revenue growth next fiscal year. Technology was the only S&P 500 sector in the green midday.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA ) ‘s forecast for a roughly 70% revenue surge next fiscal year sent the chipmaker up 9% Thursday, eyeing its best-performing day since April 2025.
A staggering rally in cybersecurity stocks, fueled by optimism over agentic AI demand, has triggered an unusual shift beneath the surface.
Technology was the only S&P 500 sector in the green by midday, with the other 10 all lower.
In addition: The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 7,734.44, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4% to 53,663.52, advancing 200 points.
The Nasdaq 100 rallied almost 1% to about 29,500 points.
Bond yields stabilized ahead of Kevin Warsh’s highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.
The 10-year Treasury yield held at 4.66%, while the 30-year yield was at 5.18%.
Thursday’s Data Hands Hawks Ammunition Initial jobless claims fell 4,000 to 203,000 against forecasts for 208,000, wholesale inventories jumped 1.3% versus the 0.2% consensus, and the Kansas City Fed manufacturing production index held at 17, its highest since April 2022.
Crude firmed modestly.
West Texas Intermediate rose 0.6% to $82.73 a barrel, while Brent added 1.2% to $88.85, both still nursing weekly losses of roughly 5% on signs of diplomatic progress in the Middle East.
Gold edged up 0.3% to $4,606.62 an ounce, with the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD ) tracking the move.
Silver was the stronger metal, rising 1.8% to $69.35 an ounce.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rallied 2.7% above $80,000.
Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices Index Last % Change MTD YTD S&P 500 7,734.44 +0.8% +3.3% +13.1% Dow Jones 53,663.52 +0.4% +2.3% +11.6% Nasdaq 100 29,484 +0.9% +4.7% +17.2% Russell 2000 3,016.29 +0.4% +3.0% +21.9% Updated by 1:00 PM ET According to the Pro platform: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO ) gained 0.7%.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA ) rose 0.4%.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ ) climbed 0.9%.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM ) advanced 0.4%.
Cybersecurity Melts Up While The Other Ten Sectors Bleed The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLK ) surged 2.9% and was the only one of the 11 S&P 500 sector funds to advance.
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLP ) was the worst performer, down 1.0%.
Losses elsewhere were tightly clustered.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLC ) fell 0.8%, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLU ) slid 0.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE ) dropped 0.6% despite firmer crude.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLF ) was the most resilient decliner at 0.4%.
Industry-level dispersion was extreme.
The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS: IGV ) rocketed 6.9%, easily the standout, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH ) added 2.9% and the Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE: TAN ) rose 1.9%.
The Global X Cybersecurity ETF (NYSE: BUG ) was up 9.7%.
Thursday’s Stock Movers Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA ) was the best performer in the Russell 1000, soaring 28.0% to $172.10 after fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.05 per share beat the $0.97 consensus on revenue of $805 million versus $795 million expected.
The identity provider raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $3.90-$3.94 against a $3.84 Street estimate and said AI-focused products such as Okta for AI Agents accounted for roughly 30% of new bookings.
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM ) jumped 21.0% to $248.77 after posting second-quarter adjusted EPS of $5.90 on revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year-on-year, and lifting its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook by $300 million in constant currency to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion.
Results included a $2.6 billion gain on its stake in Anthropic, alongside the launch of Claudeforce.
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD ) rallied 17.6% to $222.38 on record net new annual recurring revenue of $333 million, up 51% year-on-year, and adjusted EPS of $0.31 that extended its beat streak to nine quarters.
Management raised fiscal 2027 net new ARR growth guidance by 630 basis points to 34% at the midpoint.
Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV ) climbed 17.1% to $286.87 after reporting quarterly EPS of $2.35 against a $2.22 consensus on revenue of $928 million, up 17.6%, and raising fiscal 2027 EPS guidance to $9.21 and revenue guidance to $3.682 billion-$3.687 billion.
Figma Inc. (NYSE: FIG ) rounded out the top five, up 14.3% to $30.88.
Read Also: CrowdStrike Stock's Best Day Ever: These 11 Analysts Raised Targets Cybersecurity Complex Went Vertical Behind CrowdStrike, Okta Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW ) rose 12.1% ahead of its Sept.
1 results, Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS ) gained 10.5%, SentinelOne Inc. (NYSE: S ) added 9.8%, Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT ) rose 7.2%, and SailPoint Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIL ) advanced 13.8% despite not reporting until Sept.
9.