The tech rally is still rotating under the surface — and cybersecurity just grabbed the ball.
The First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) is pushing toward its first record close in over a month Monday — with CrowdStrike (CRWD), JFrog (FROG), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), and Fortinet (FTNT) all notching intraday record highs.
Chip stocks have dominated the tape in 2026, but cybersecurity stocks have outpaced semiconductors periodically — signaling a healthy rotation within the tech trade.
The move stands out because chip stocks are still repairing an ugly start to July.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is having its best day in more than two weeks, but it remains down 8% this month. Two days into July, SOXX was briefly tracking its worst month in nearly four years.
CIBR is not a pure cybersecurity read. Holdings in non-software names like Broadcom (AVGO), Cisco (CSCO), and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) pull the fund into networking, chips, cloud, and AI infrastructure.
But that blur is also the point. Cybersecurity has become a cross-tech trade — part software, part cloud, part AI build-out, part old-fashioned enterprise spending.
Under the hood, the latest leg has muscle.
CrowdStrike, JFrog, Palo Alto, Zscaler (ZS) and Okta (OKTA) are all up more than 20% since that June 25 low, while F5 (FFIV), and Arista Networks (ANET) are pressing highs.
The cybersecurity trade is still carrying scars from software’s AI scare. The median CIBR component is roughly 27% below its closing record high, a reminder that investors are still sorting out which software companies get helped by AI — and which get disrupted by it.
For now, the level is CIBR’s old high around $94. A close above it would confirm the breakout; a rejection there would keep the June high as resistance and leave the latest software rotation still waiting for proof.
Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com.
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