Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike are the two names most people mean when they say "cybersecurity platform." As of October 5, 2026, they also share a valuation reading: both sit at the 97.7th percentile of their own five-year EV/Sales range, and both trade at about twice their own five-year median. The same percentile hides two different stories, and reading either multiple correctly depends on knowing which one you're looking at.
If you only read one thing
The short version: Both stocks are near the most expensive they have been in five years relative to sales. CrowdStrike costs about 51 times sales and has grown mostly on its own. Palo Alto costs about 27 times sales, but its recent growth includes the CyberArk acquisition, which makes its trailing multiple look higher than it will once a full year of CyberArk revenue is counted.
Side by side
| Measure | Palo Alto (PANW) | CrowdStrike (CRWD) |
|---|---|---|
| EV/Sales (trailing) | 26.7 | 51.5 |
| 5-year median EV/Sales | 13.1 | 24.0 |
| 5-year high EV/Sales | 28.8 | 55.6 |
| EV/Sales 5-year percentile | 97.7 | 97.7 |
| Revenue growth, trailing year | 24% | 24% |
| Revenue growth, latest quarter | 34% (incl. CyberArk) | ~26% |
| GAAP P/E (trailing) | about 860 | about 4,300 |
Where these stand now
Current readings update separately from the article’s dated analysis.
Historically high
As of
PANW's P/E of 738.8x is higher than 91% of its available weekly readings from the last five years.
Compared with readings since .
Historically high
As of
CRWD's P/E of 3829.4x is higher than 94% of its available weekly readings from the last five years.
Compared with readings since .
Ignore the P/E row. Both companies report small GAAP profits after stock compensation and acquisition costs, so dividing a large market value by a tiny earnings number produces a figure that swings wildly and says little. That is why we use EV/Sales for this sector (enterprise value divided by trailing revenue). If you want the mechanics, read our explainer on why EV/Sales and P/S can disagree.
The takeaway: Both stocks trade near the top of their own five-year range at about twice their median sales multiple. Their P/E ratios are too distorted to use; sales multiples are the better comparison.
Palo Alto: growth with an acquisition inside it
Palo Alto closed its CyberArk acquisition on February 11, 2026, according to this map of the 2026 identity consolidation wave. Its fiscal fourth quarter (Palo Alto's Q4 fiscal 2026 results) showed revenue up 34% to $3.41 billion and next-generation security ARR up 63% to $9.10 billion. The release does not break out CyberArk's contribution, so those growth rates mix organic growth and acquired revenue.
That creates a denominator problem. Our trailing revenue figure ($11.48 billion for fiscal 2026) includes only the quarters after the deal closed. The enterprise value already reflects the whole combined company. So the trailing EV/Sales overstates what you pay for a full year of the combined business. Palo Alto guided fiscal 2027 revenue to $14.10 to $14.20 billion. At today's enterprise value of roughly $307 billion, that midpoint works out to about 21.7 times sales, lower than the 26.7 trailing figure but still well above its five-year median of 13.1. We walk through this effect in the denominator trap in P/S after an acquisition.
The percentile has a second wrinkle: it compares today's combined company with five years of history from before the deal. That is a fair question (what does the market pay for Palo Alto now versus before?), but the business being priced has changed.
The takeaway: Palo Alto's trailing sales multiple is inflated because CyberArk's revenue has only been counted for part of the year. On the company's own guidance for next year, the multiple is closer to 22 times sales, which is still far above its usual level.
CrowdStrike: mostly organic, priced higher
CrowdStrike's growth is mostly its own. Its main identity deal of 2026, the roughly $740 million SGNL purchase (CNBC on CrowdStrike's SGNL deal), is small next to its $5.4 billion of trailing revenue. So its 51.5 times sales is a cleaner read: the market is paying about twice CrowdStrike's own median for a business growing about 24% to 26%.
That is the highest sales multiple among the large security names we track, and it leaves the least cushion. When Anthropic announced Claude Code Security on February 20, CrowdStrike fell 8% in a day. At the 98th percentile, any sign of slowing growth hits a multiple with little room to absorb it.
The takeaway: CrowdStrike's sales multiple is not distorted by a big acquisition, so 51 times sales is roughly what you pay. It is the most expensive large security stock we track, which makes it the most sensitive to any slowdown.
How to read each one
- For Palo Alto, compare the trailing EV/Sales with the guidance-based figure, and expect the trailing number to drift down as full CyberArk quarters enter the denominator. A falling multiple over the next two quarters may be arithmetic rather than a selloff.
- For CrowdStrike, the trailing multiple is close to the real price. Watch revenue growth against that multiple: at 51 times sales, growth in the mid-20s is what the market expects, not a bonus.
- For both, the 98th percentile means the easy re-rating is done. David Friedberg named Palo Alto when he predicted cyber budgets would soar (our summary of Friedberg's All-In cyber argument), and the market had already priced both platforms for that outcome.
The takeaway: Same percentile, different reading. Palo Alto's multiple will fall on its own as acquired revenue is fully counted; CrowdStrike's is close to the real price and depends on growth holding up.
Data: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings and market prices, computed by StockResearch as of October 5, 2026. The guidance-based multiple uses Palo Alto's published fiscal 2027 revenue range and our October 5 enterprise value. Latest-quarter growth figures come from company earnings releases. Jake is the founder of StockResearch.app, where he writes data-first research on valuation dislocations. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Do your own research.