Palo Alto Networks has set a historic record in Israel's capital market. The cybersecurity giant, founded by Israeli entrepreneur Nir Zuk, crossed the NIS 1 trillion ($306 billion) market-cap threshold for the first time Thursday morning. The gains later moderated, with the company's valuation falling back as its share price fluctuated.
The stock surge comes amid growing investor interest in security companies, with market sources attributing part of the rise to a ripple effect from the incident involving Flydubai Flight FZ1073 on Wednesday. They said the incident could increase global interest in Israeli security solutions, including in the cybersecurity sector. The assessment is based on market commentary and does not establish a direct link between the incident and the stock's performance.
Palo Alto Networks is one of the world's largest cybersecurity companies. In February, it completed its acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity company CyberArk in a deal valued at about $21.1 billion. Following the merger, CyberArk became a wholly owned subsidiary of Palo Alto Networks.
The deal significantly strengthened Palo Alto Networks' presence in Israel, while the company continues to operate extensively in both the US and Israeli markets. Upon completing the acquisition, Palo Alto Networks also announced plans for a secondary listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, a move intended to make it the largest company on the local exchange by market capitalization.
The company is also at the center of the effort to secure enterprise systems in the age of artificial intelligence. The growing use of AI systems, automation and new forms of digital identity is creating additional challenges for cybersecurity operations. Following the CyberArk acquisition, Palo Alto Networks has made the security of human, machine and AI-agent identities one of the pillars of its business strategy.
Thursday morning's record marks another milestone for Palo Alto Networks and underscores the weight investors are placing on the Israeli cybersecurity industry, both in the domestic market and internationally.
