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# Software stocks had a rough Friday, and CrowdStrike fell 7.02%
- URL: https://www.sharespective.com/stories/software-stocks-rough-friday-crowdstrike-fell-2026-10-17/
- Published: 2026-10-16T21:15:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-19T19:29:48.000Z
- Description: CrowdStrike fell 7.02% on Friday to US$227.39. The cybersecurity company has lost 17.3% in a week, and 18.5% since it closed at US$278.86 on 6 October.
- Author: Shaun Botha
- Tags: Software, #story, #group-tech, CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike fell 7.02% on Friday to US$227.39\. The cybersecurity company has lost 17.3% in a week, and 18.5% since it closed at US$278.86 on 6 October.

**Its neighbours fared no better.** Palo Alto Networks lost more than 7%, and Palantir, which sells data software to governments and companies, fell 7.22%. By Yahoo Finance's count, 43 of the 45 software stocks it tracks finished lower.

Cybersecurity copped the worst of it. The First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity fund, which holds the sector's big names, fell about 10% over the week. Yahoo Finance says that was its worst week since March 2020.

[![Chart: CrowdStrike slid 18.5% after a long climb. CrowdStrike's closing share price in US$ at each January year end since 2022, then on 6 and 16 October 2026; the last two columns are days apart, not years.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/02/71/0271df32-cec6-421f-9f13-b06ab90e54c1/content/images/2026/10/chart-software-crowdstrike-price-days-2026-10-17-wide-light.jpg)](https://www.sharespective.com/chart-software-crowdstrike-price-days-2026-10-17/) 

This story’s chart of the day: the numbers, the dark version and the animated version are on its own page. [The chart’s page →](https://www.sharespective.com/chart-software-crowdstrike-price-days-2026-10-17/)

Two worries did the damage. The first is the one dragging on chipmakers: whether the money being poured into AI will earn a return, now that the 10-year Treasury yield sits at 5.09%.

The second is specific to security. On Tuesday a report said OpenAI plans to buy a cybersecurity startup. No target and no price were named, but investors took it as a sign that AI companies may build security into their own products.

Our view 

nothing in CrowdStrike's business changed this week. The share price moved because investors changed their minds about what AI means for its customers. I'd want to see an AI company actually win a big security contract before treating that as a threat to the business.

[ This story ran in Tech Takes a Beating Saturday 17 October’s edition, with the market snapshot, the other two stories, the numbers and the week ahead. Read the whole edition → ](https://www.sharespective.com/sharespective-2026-10-17/)