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Luke Kawa

Cyber stocks plunge after reportedly leaked document shows Anthropic is worried its new model will enable indefensible online attacks

Cybersecurity stocks are suffering from another case of Claude-struption:

Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Zscaler, and Okta are all slumping in premarket trading after Fortune reported that a data leak from Anthropic revealed an updated AI model the company fears is so powerful that malicious actors could launch cyberattacks that these companies wouldn’t be able to defend against.

Per the leaked document reviewed by Fortune, the new model “presages an upcoming wave of models that can exploit vulnerabilities in ways that far outpace the efforts of defenders,” and Anthropic plans to release it early to cybersecurity companies in order to help improve their ability to withstand attacks.

According to experts cited by Fortune, this leak was able to be discovered because digital assets created in Anthropic’s content management system “are set to public by default” unless a user shifts them to be kept private. Anthropic refers to this as “human error.”

But given how Claude Cowork was created by Claude Code, one presumes that Anthropic makes extensive use of its AI tools for code and products deployed both internally and externally.

This leaves us with a bit of a conundrum. Anthropic is simultaneously able to:

  • Develop an AI model so powerful that traditional cyber defenders might be bringing a paper shield to a gun fight; and

  • Not utilize anything resembling appropriate safeguards for protecting its own information and products using those same powerful AI tools it has developed.

When “hey, maybe make sure we don’t default to publishing information publicly!” can be considered an improvement on one’s own cybersecurity standards, it’s a little difficult to trust one’s assessment of future threats.

These cyber stocks had previously slumped in late February after Anthropic launched a new security feature for its AI model.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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