Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) surged 22.6% and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) jumped 20.5% Thursday, after both companies reported fiscal second-quarter results that sharply beat Wall Street forecasts, triggering the broadest single-session rally across AI security and enterprise software names in more than a year. The S&P 500 rose 0.72% to 7,730.99 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.57% to 26,541.35; the SOXX semiconductor ETF added 1.95%, lifted by an 8.7% surge in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) that added roughly $435 billion in market capitalization in a single session.
Top AI stocks today: August 27, 2026
| Ticker | Close | Day | 1mo | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $CRM | $252.05 | +22.58% | +39.48% | -0.62% |
| $CRWD | $227.96 | +20.50% | +23.08% | +101.03% |
| $PANW | $382.85 | +12.83% | +17.55% | +113.44% |
| $NOW | $138.43 | +10.04% | +25.77% | -6.12% |
| $NVDA | $227.98 | +8.74% | +16.89% | +20.72% |
| $BABA | $116.31 | -2.94% | -0.01% | -25.32% |
| $AMZN | $256.26 | -1.54% | +8.82% | +13.14% |
| $CRWV | $86.80 | -1.37% | +17.46% | +9.43% |
| $AMD | $476.67 | -0.89% | -1.80% | +113.30% |
| $META | $571.10 | -0.87% | +5.95% | -12.19% |
Salesforce rockets 22.6% on fiscal Q2 blowout
Salesforce reported adjusted earnings per share of $5.90 for its fiscal second quarter, comfortably beating analyst consensus, on revenue of $11.35 billion. Per Invezz, the Agentforce AI agent platform drove enterprise contract expansions across professional services and retail verticals, with deals converting at materially higher average selling prices than traditional seat-based contracts. The after-hours pop on Wednesday extended through the full Thursday session as short-sellers covered and growth funds re-weighted into the name. At $252.05, CRM is back to roughly flat on the year, a sharp reversal for a stock that entered August down double digits. Among the best AI stocks 2026 consensus screens, Salesforce stands out as the clearest proof that AI-agent monetization is converting from pilot footnote to top-line driver. Any Benioff commentary at September conferences is likely to move the tape.
CrowdStrike posts "best quarter in history" as Falcon Flex doubles
CrowdStrike reported adjusted EPS of $0.31 versus $0.29 expected and revenue of $1.47 billion, up 26% year on year from $1.17 billion, for its fiscal second quarter ended July 31. CEO George Kurtz called it "the best quarter in CrowdStrike's history," per CNBC, pointing to Falcon Flex adoption: the subscription bundles more than doubled year on year, with 935 net new Flex accounts added and the top 10 deals by value all involving Flex. The company lifted its full-year revenue guide to $5.99 billion to $6.01 billion. CRWD had been one of the more debated names across AI chip stocks and security, with the stock in recovery mode following last year's global outage; this print resets the narrative. StartupHub.ai data shows 69 private cybersecurity startup funding rounds tracked in 2026 with an average deal size of $73 million, a signal of institutional conviction in the security platform model that CrowdStrike is leading.
Palo Alto Networks climbs 12.8% on cybersecurity sector wave
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW) gained 12.83%, touching an intraday high of $380.66, as investors rotated into the sector's second-largest pure-play on the view that the cybersecurity spending environment confirmed by CRWD's results applies industry-wide. The Motley Fool noted the stock's surge was directly driven by the CrowdStrike beat. Analysts at consensus project a 3.2% EPS increase and a 32.1% revenue rise when PANW reports its own fiscal fourth quarter on September 1, a print that - after today's markup - carries meaningful upward expectations risk. Among AI stocks to watch heading into the Labor Day weekend, the September 1 report is the defining near-term event for the security trade. The stock remains below its August 13 all-time high of $398.88.
ServiceNow adds 10% as enterprise AI software sweeps higher
ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) added 10.04% on heavy volume, carried by the same enterprise AI monetization thesis that propelled Salesforce. NOW is consistently named among the top AI stocks 2026 screens because its workflow automation engine sits across every major enterprise vertical, making it a natural beneficiary when peer results demonstrate that AI features convert to contract value. With no print of its own this week, the move reads as a quality re-rating alongside CRM. NOW is up 25.8% over the past month and its next catalyst is the Q3 earnings report in October. The AI infrastructure stocks theme - enterprise SaaS monetizing AI models at the workflow layer - was Thursday's dominant trade.