Wedbush Says 2026 Is the “Inflection Year” for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Here’s the Stock to Own.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/03/23/wedbush-says-2026-is-the-inflection-year-for-artif/
Publish Date: 2026-03-23 15:20:00
Source Domain: www.fool.com
At the end of 2025, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, one of Wall Street’s most outspoken tech bulls, predicted the artificial intelligence (AI) market would reach its “inflection point” in 2026. Ives also named five stocks — Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, Palantir, and CrowdStrike (CRWD +1.83%) — as the top plays on that secular trend. While all five of those companies are growing rapidly, I believe CrowdStrike could be the most compelling AI play this year for five simple reasons.
1. It’s the cloud-native cybersecurity leader
Many cybersecurity companies deploy their services via on-site appliances, which take up space, consume significant power, and require constant maintenance. These systems are also expensive to scale as an organization expands.
Image source: Getty Images.
CrowdStrike addresses those issues with Falcon, a cloud-native endpoint security platform that doesn’t require any appliances or on-site maintenance. It’s also easier to scale and locks users into sticky subscriptions. That innovative approach widens its competitive moat.
2. Its ecosystem is expanding
CrowdStrike initially provides its customers with a trial bundle of four starter modules and encourages them to purchase more modules for additional services. At the end of fiscal 2026 (which ended this January), 50% of its customers were using at least six of its modules. That’s up from just 24% of its customers at the end of fiscal 2021.
Those modules added more identity, data, and cloud security features to its core platform. It also added more AI-powered features — including its AI-driven threat detection tools, automated agents, and Charlotte AI assistant for analysts — to keep pace with smaller AI-driven competitors like SentinelOne and diversified tech giants like Microsoft, which is expanding its own AI-powered cybersecurity services. In his note to investors, Ives said Wall Street was “underestimating the growth potential for CrowdStrike with cybersecurity remaining a…
