Ten large-cap stocks were top performers last week, with Dell Technologies leading at 57% gain after beating Q1 expectations and raising FY27 guidance. Snowflake jumped 52.33% following strong Q1 results and a strategic AWS partnership. Other notable gainers included Okta (36.5%), NetApp (28.8%), Best Buy (27.37%), and Ford (22.64%), all driven by better-than-expected earnings or positive guidance updates.

Major tech companies drove AI innovation this week with strong earnings and strategic initiatives. Dell reported record Q1 revenue of $43.84B, significantly beating estimates, while IBM and Red Hat launched a $5B open-source security initiative. Meta expanded into paid subscriptions across its platforms, and CrowdStrike expanded its cybersecurity initiatives. Anthropic surpassed OpenAI as the world's most valuable startup at $965B valuation. Japanese banks gained access to OpenAI's GPT-5.5 model for cybersecurity defense.

Okta stock surged 30.43% to a new 52-week high after reporting strong Q1 FY2027 earnings with 11% YoY revenue growth to $765 million and beating EPS estimates at $0.91 vs. $0.85 expected. The company generated $271 million in free cash flow and guided for full-year revenue growth of ~10% to $3.2 billion. CEO Todd McKinnon highlighted the company's strategic positioning to secure and govern AI agents as a new workforce, positioning Okta as a critical cybersecurity provider in the agentic AI era.

Okta reported Q1 earnings of $0.91 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85, with revenue of $765 million exceeding the Street estimate of $751.88 million. The company raised its fiscal 2027 guidance for adjusted EPS to $3.79-$3.87 and revenue outlook to $3.185-$3.205 billion. The stock climbed 9.59% to $103 in extended trading following the announcement.

Hedge fund Greenvale Capital fully exited its 7.08 million share position in Payoneer (valued at $37.36 million) during Q1 2026, signaling a bearish outlook on the stock. Payoneer shares have declined 33.1% over the past year and are underperforming the S&P 500 by 60.4 percentage points, despite solid Q1 revenue growth of 6% year-over-year. The company's modest 2026 guidance may have disappointed investors.

ShawSpring Partners exited its entire 253,959-share position in monday.com for approximately $24.37 million as the stock has declined 73% over the past year. Despite the sharp stock decline, monday.com's fundamentals remain strong with 24% revenue growth, doubled operating income, and expanding enterprise adoption, suggesting the market may be overly pessimistic about the company's prospects.

SEON announced the appointment of Sagnik Nandy, CTO at Docusign and former engineering leader at Google and Okta, to its Board of Directors. Nandy brings 15+ years of experience in enterprise technology, AI infrastructure, and identity management. His appointment reflects SEON's focus on scaling its AI-driven fraud prevention, identity verification, and AML compliance platform globally.

A market sell-off in cybersecurity stocks triggered by AI disruption concerns presents a buying opportunity for long-term investors. While Wall Street fears AI will replace cybersecurity solutions, the reality is more nuanced—AI alone cannot address sophisticated cyberattacks and multi-pronged protection remains essential. Three cybersecurity companies trading at substantial discounts are recommended: Palo Alto Networks, Okta, and Rubrik, all showing strong revenue growth despite recent stock declines.

U.S. equities tumbled to their lowest levels in nearly seven months on Friday as the Nasdaq 100 officially entered correction territory, down over 10% from January highs. The decline was driven by geopolitical tensions with Iran rejecting ceasefire options, surging crude oil prices, deteriorating consumer sentiment, and rising inflation expectations. The 30-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.958%, threatening to breach 5% for the first time since July 2025, while the Fed rate hike probability by December jumped to nearly 50%.

Both Okta and Zscaler are cybersecurity leaders facing a fast-changing landscape with AI disruption. Okta's stock has dropped 30% in 12 months with decelerating growth (12% revenue increase, guidance showing 9% expected growth). Zscaler's stock is down 20% but demonstrates stronger fundamentals with 26% revenue growth, 25% ARR growth, and achievement of the Rule of 40 metric. While Okta appears undervalued, Zscaler is positioned as the better long-term investment due to superior growth trajectory and AI-driven security strategy.

As AI agents evolve into autonomous workers accessing sensitive data without human supervision, enterprises face new security challenges. Okta and CrowdStrike are positioned as complementary solutions—Okta managing AI agent identity and governance while CrowdStrike provides real-time threat detection and behavioral monitoring. Both companies are experiencing strong financial momentum and are well-positioned to capture significant share of the emerging AI security market.

Okta's stock fell 14.2% in February after Anthropic announced Claude Code Security, an AI tool that scans code for vulnerabilities. Investors feared AI disruption to cybersecurity stocks. However, Okta's Q4 results beat expectations with $761M revenue and $0.90 EPS, suggesting the company's underlying business remains strong. Analysts recommend a wait-and-see approach rather than panic selling.