CrowdStrike CEO says AI agents are unpredictable as company snaps up more cybersecurity startups
- - CrowdStrike CEO says AI agents are unpredictable as company snaps up more cybersecurity startups
Brian SozziJanuary 15, 2026 at 12:58 AM
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CrowdStrike (CRWD) is wasting no time to strike this year.
On Monday, the cybersecurity firm announced an agreement to purchase Seraphic Security, a browser runtime security provider. The deal reportedly cost CrowdStrike $420 million.
This follows last week's $740 million purchase of cybersecurity startup SGNL. The deal is slated to help users of its trademark Falcon security platform better manage human and AI identity access requests and other risks.
Both deals lay the groundwork for CrowdStrike being better prepared to manage new cybersecurity risks as AI agents permeate corporate workflows.
"The idea [is] ... combining these assets along with Falcon Shield and some of the other acquisitions that we've done in the past gives us really a next-gen identity platform," CrowdStrike founder and CEO George Kurtz told me in an exclusive interview on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid (video above).
In 2025, CrowdStrike acquired AI agentic security platform Pangea ($260 million) and data startup Onum ($290 million).
"The challenge that you have with some of these AI agents, it's like giving full access to a drunken intern. I mean, who knows what they're going to do?" Kurtz explained.
The business is already beginning to benefit from corporations going all-in on threat protection.
CrowdStrike had a solid third quarter. Sales rose 22% from the prior year to $1.23 billion. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) improved 23% from the prior year to $4.92 billion. Non-GAAP operating income hit a record $264.6 million.
For the current quarter, CrowdStrike said it sees sales in a range of $1.29 billion to $1.3 billion. Earnings per share are pegged at $1.09 to $1.11. Yahoo Finance data shows analysts are expecting CrowdStrike to deliver toward the high end of its top- and bottom-line outlooks.
Shares have gained 37% in the past year, outperforming the Nasdaq Composite's (^IXIC) 23% advance.
"CrowdStrike is an important platform vendor with a number of drivers to sustain at least high-teens top-line growth and improving profitability in coming years and remain buyers," Stifel analyst Adam Borg wrote in a note.
Borg rates CrowdStrike a Buy with a $600 price target.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email [email protected].
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