A wave of uncertainty, Iran military tensions layered on top of existing software sector jitters, has prompted Wedbush Securities to publish what amounts to a defensive playbook for tech investors. The firm is not calling for a retreat from technology. It argues that the right names can absorb the volatility and emerge stronger.
The list skews heavily toward cybersecurity and companies with direct government and defence exposure, a logical tilt given that geopolitical instability tends to accelerate spending in exactly those areas.
Cybersecurity leads the defensive case
CrowdStrike sits at the top of Wedbush's recommendations. The firm argues that its Falcon platform is becoming more effective, not less relevant, as AI-powered threats multiply. The logic is self-reinforcing: the more sophisticated the adversary, the more enterprises need best-in-class detection.
Palo Alto Networks draws a similar conclusion. Its AI-driven platform is gaining enterprise traction at the same time that AI is expanding the attack surface companies need to defend. Wedbush sees that as a structural growth driver, not a cyclical one.
Check Point rounds out the cybersecurity trio. The firm points to its work building out a competitive suite across SASE, enterprise risk management, and email security, with AI driving deal flow in the near term.
The defence and intelligence angle
Palantir is framed as one of the most directly positioned stocks on the list. Wedbush notes the company continues to accumulate deals across US federal business, with its AIP platform described as the default builder environment for the Department of Defence. When governments feel threatened, Palantir tends to get busier.
Planet Labs occupies a similar space. Demand for its space-based geospatial intelligence is rising as more governments conclude that real-time imagery is a strategic necessity rather than a nice-to-have. The firm expects Planet to win significant new contracts as that recognition spreads.
Voyager, the smallest name on the list, is cited for capabilities across guidance, navigation and control, digital systems, secure communications, and AI-driven intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Wedbush sees its positioning as strong precisely because those functions become more valuable as tensions rise.
The defensive anchors: Microsoft and Apple
Wedbush slots Microsoft into a specific role here, the defensive name within the broader tech trade. With $625 billion in contractual backlog, the company has a substantial revenue base to work through regardless of near-term sentiment shifts. Cloud and AI monetisation are accelerating, but the backlog alone provides a floor that few tech companies can match.
Apple gets the same treatment. The iPhone 17 upgrade cycle is generating momentum, and the company's consumer product portfolio and cash generation make it one of the more predictable names in a sector that is anything but predictable right no
Long-term AI winners at compressed valuations
Salesforce makes the list on the strength of its installed base. More than 150,000 customers have spent years building their business logic and data structures inside the Salesforce ecosystem. Wedbush's argument is that this embedded position is worth more, not less, as AI creates new monetisation opportunities on top of existing infrastructure.
ServiceNow draws the most explicitly valuation-driven case. Wedbush believes the market is mispricing the stock, treating AI as a threat to ServiceNow's entrenched enterprise position when the firm sees trillions of data points embedded in enterprise systems that will be difficult and expensive to replace. That embedded infrastructure, in Wedbush's view, makes AI a tailwind rather than a risk.
The common thread across all 10 names is entrenchment. Whether it is cybersecurity platforms that deepen their value as threats evolve, defence contractors tied to government spending mandates, or enterprise software providers with years of customer data locked in, Wedbush is betting on companies that become harder to displace the more uncertain the world gets.
