−11.1%
since Oct 10
The idea
I believe security budgets are consolidating, with companies cutting dozens of point tools down to a few big AI-powered platforms, while AI itself makes attacks nastier and pushes spending toward whoever can keep pace. So this basket owns the platform leaders taking share, plus the cloud, identity, AI-native, and attack-surface names riding the same shift, with two sector ETFs for ballast so one bad earnings report doesn't sink it. I'm holding for one to two years and keeping 10% in cash to add to the core if the market overreacts to a single quarter.
What it owns
- These companies are replacing point products with broader platforms that customers adopt module by module and deal by deal. · CrowdStrike HoldingsIt started at the endpoint and keeps adding security modules that customers adopt instead of separate tools, making per-customer consolidation the clearest sign the trend is working., Palo Alto NetworksIt actively bundles tools to replace customers' point products and advocates loudly for platform consolidation, so platform deal growth and total contract value are the signals that matter., MicrosoftIt sells security as part of licenses customers already pay for, making it the default consolidation choice for many buyers, and it owns the infrastructure both attackers and defenders run on., FortinetIt is converting its huge firewall base into a broader platform where networking and security merge, so customer upgrades into the wider bundle rather than hardware renewals show consolidation is working.32%
- These services replace legacy network infrastructure with cloud-based alternatives that bundle in security. · ZscalerIt replaces the old corporate network perimeter with a cloud service, the kind of legacy-tool replacement that consolidation budgets fund, and billings growth shows whether the shift is real., CloudflareIt sits in front of a huge share of internet traffic and layers security and artificial intelligence on top of that position, so sustained security revenue growth shows whether consolidation is happening there., Check Point SoftwareIt is the cheaper profitable incumbent pushing its own consolidated platform, giving the take a value-priced way to own the same shift if platform adoption shows growth., Akamai TechnologiesIts growth now comes from security and cloud compute instead of content delivery, so security becoming a larger share of revenue shows whether its business pivot toward platforms is working.20%
- These companies built security around artificial intelligence from the start or are extending existing platforms into new security use cases. · RubrikIt protects and recovers data after ransomware hits and builds artificial intelligence-driven security on top of that data visibility, so fast subscription growth matters as stakes rise., DatadogIt watches everything running in company clouds and extends that visibility into security, so converting monitoring customers into security customers shows the fewer-vendors story working., SentinelOneIt built defense around artificial intelligence from the start and competes at lower prices, so fast growth and movement toward profit matter as consolidation happens in the endpoint space.14%
- These companies map what companies expose to the internet before attackers find it, a job that grows more urgent as artificial intelligence accelerates probing. · QualysIt tells companies where they are exposed before attackers find it, a map that becomes more urgent as artificial intelligence accelerates attack speed, and it stays profitable and steady., Tenable HoldingsIt maps everything a company exposes to the internet, a job that grows bigger as artificial intelligence lets attackers probe faster, so its broader platform needs to keep winning deals., Varonis SystemsIt secures data itself and flags who can access what, a function that matters more as companies feed sensitive data into artificial intelligence tools, and its cloud subscription conversion needs to hold.10%
- These broad-market funds track cybersecurity spending overall, protecting the take if a different vendor wins consolidation or if spending rises across the sector. · First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETFIt holds the broad cybersecurity sector, so the take benefits if security spending rises even if a different vendor wins, and it caps damage from any single stock pick failing., Amplify Cybersecurity ETFIt holds a broad set of cybersecurity companies with slightly different coverage than other sector funds, spreading ballast across multiple providers to protect the take on the broad spending trend.9%
- Identity is where most modern attacks begin, so consolidated platforms need serious identity layers from independent providers. · OktaIdentity is where most attacks begin, and consolidated platforms need a serious independent identity layer rather than relying on bundled alternatives.5%
- Cash10%