TradingKey – CrowdStrike (CRWD) has logged a staggering year-to-date gain of 102% as of the September 18 close, with its stock price soaring 177% from its February low of $85.68.

In a year when software stock valuations have been widely compressed, such a doubling rally was driven not by earnings reports, but by the market’s repricing of AI cybersecurity demand: leaps in model capabilities have rapidly expanded the attack surface, turning endpoint protection from routine procurement into essential spending. Whoever defends artificial intelligence companies against next-generation threats claims the cybersecurity sector’s valuation premium first.

Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser said at the Qatar Economic Forum in New York on…