03:39 PM EDT, 10/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- A strong momentum in major networking and cybersecurity stocks is seen continuing in the intermediate term amid robust demand and healthy fundamentals, though valuation levels could be a "concern" in the long term as the momentum normalizes, BofA Securities said Monday.

The brokerage raised its price objectives on the stocks of Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) , CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) , Zscaler ( ZS ) , and Ciena (CIEN), but cut those for SentinelOne ( S ) and Akamai Technologies ( AKAM ) .

"Fundamentals across networking remain healthy, driven by elevated spending levels on the back of (artificial intelligence) infrastructure buildouts, while cybersecurity demand is supported by growing enterprise security budgets and continued technology evolution," BofA analysts Tal Liani and Tomer Zilberman said in a note to clients. "Valuation is a long-term concern, but we expect the cycles to retain the current momentum in the intermediate term."

BofA upgraded its price objective on the Palo Alto stock to $240 from $215, citing a diversification strategy that seems to be "working well," as well as its strong fundamentals, total addressable market expansion, and apparent success in new areas. The company is seen benefitting from "strong presence" in software-based firewalls segments that grow more than 20% annually, compared with just 4% growth for hardware firewalls, according to the note.

The brokerage raised its price objective on CrowdStrike's ( CRWD ) stock to $535 from $470 as the company is seeing "strong tailwinds and impactful long-term opportunities" in various segments, the analysts said. "CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) sees its TAM increasing from ($140 billion) in (2026) to ($300 billion) in (2030), driven mostly by upsell opportunities which are addressing a ($20 billion-plus) opportunity," they wrote.

BofA lifted Zscaler's ( ZS ) price objective to $355 from $340 amid continued strong performance across its key growth vectors, including AI security, Zero Trust, and data security. "The company's core market, (secure access service edge), continues to grow well, as reflected by the results of competitors like Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) and Netskope, and Zscaler ( ZS ) is also benefiting from expansion of the addressable market into data security and more recently AI security," the analysts said.

The brokerage raised its price objective on the Ciena stock to $200 from $155. Ciena Chief Strategy Officer David Rothenstein recently said that a recent increase in design wins and order volumes has validated the company's pivot towards AI-driven connectivity, according to the note. "While total capex growth of the top five hyperscalers is expected to decelerate from 61% in 2025 to 21% in 2026, Mr. Rothenstein highlighted that underlying optical connectivity growth should remain durable," Liani and Zilberman said.

BofA lowered its price objective for SentinelOne ( S ) to $19 from $21, citing an "uninspiring" annual outlook and continued margin pressure. On the bright side, the company is seeing "solid" performance with emerging products and recently announced its flex program, which could raise platform adoption and improve retention rates, according to the note.

A drop in Akamai's ( AKAM ) price objective to $80 from $100 came as BofA noted "structural risks given lack of vendor differentiation and price-based competition," with the company seeing challenging trends in its security and compute segments. "Moderating price declines and improved traffic trends across Akamai's ( AKAM ) delivery business is driving better-than-expected revenue growth," the analysts said.

Price: 211.46, Change: +3.57, Percent Change: +1.72