'You can make good money in cyber': analyst names top five stocks in the sector

The U.S. will have to increase its cybersecurity defenses due to growing threats: this could benefit the players working in this area, Arnie Bellini, managing partner at investment firm Bellini Capital, told Business Insider. In an interview with Business Insider, he named the top five stocks in the sector that investors should pay attention to.

With geopolitical tensions rising in recent years, experts are increasingly worried about the threat of cyberattacks on government agencies and critical infrastructure, writes Business Insider. This became especially evident after the U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities: in response, Iranian-linked hackers attacked banks, defense contractors and the oil sector, the publication noted.

This situation represents an opportunity for investors to pick a few cyber defense stocks that could benefit from expanded government contracts, Bellini said.

"You can make really good money in cyber right now," said Bellini Capital's managing partner in a statement to Business Insider. - It's a very reasonable bet."

- Bellini named Palo Alto Networks, which develops solutions to protect corporate networks, as his top cybersecurity choice. Bellini believes that those companies that work closely with the federal government have the best growth prospects, and Palo Alto Networks meets that criterion. According to the analyst, the company actively integrates artificial intelligence into its products, has a state-of-the-art cyber defense architecture and an established partnership with federal agencies.

"They have already worked with government agencies and are actively developing zero-trust architecture together with AI-based threat detection systems - these are modern and effective approaches to defense," Bellini explained. In particular, the company is working with the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency (CISA): the analyst expects this contract to expand. Since the beginning of the year, the shares of Palo Alto Networks have risen by 10%, outperforming the main U.S. stock index S&P 500 almost twice.

- Next on the list is CrowdStrike Holdings, popular among defense contractors and cybersecurity incident response teams. The company's key advantage is real-time tracking of cyber threats and highly automated cybersecurity operations centers (SOCs), which meets federal requirements, Bellini noted. Since the beginning of 2025, the company's market valuehas risen by nearly 50%.

- Another cybersecurity company Bellini is betting on is Fortinet. Since the beginning of the year, its securities have appreciated by nearly 13%. Fortinet has a strong position in network security and access management - especially where government agencies are working with hybrid infrastructure, the analyst says.

"They cover all the key tasks and are already in active use by federal agencies," he said.

- Fourth on the list is SentinelOne. This company's stock price, by contrast, has dropped by 18% since the beginning of the year, but Bellini still sees it as a potential beneficiary of new government cybersecurity contracts. He acknowledges it's a younger player, founded in 2013, but praises the company for its powerful artificial intelligence tools.

"Hackers use AI, too. And that's where SentinelOne is particularly good: it has an autonomous AI-based detection and response system," Bellini says. In his view, such technologies are helping to offset a critical shortage of cybersecurity professionals.

- Rounding out the list is military and civilian AI developer Palantir. С начала года его акции взлетели на 83%: это одна из лучших акций в индексе S&P 500. Retail investors have been actively buying up the company's securities: they've even beguncomparing them to "meme" stocks. Palantir has multiple contracts with the U.S. government - including the Pentagon and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - which fits Bellini's main overarching criterion of working closely with the authorities. However, Palantir came last on the analyst's list because it is not betting on AI specifically in cybersecurity, according to Bellini. But Palantir could still benefit from rising defense spending thanks to its expertise in big data analytics, the analyst suggested.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor