The search for the best stocks to buy now never ends. There are always new opportunities to explore and lucrative deals to be made. The challenge is to find companies that will continue to deliver market returns. And in my experience, it’s often an unpopular business in a critical industry.

The cybersecurity market has exploded in recent years. As threats become more complex and data more valuable, companies have begun to heavily protect their IT infrastructure. And according to Polaris Market Research, the global cybersecurity market is on track to double to over half a trillion dollars by 2030.

This is what was brought CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) to my attention. The IT outage triggered by a botched software update earlier this year put CrowdStrike on many investors’ blacklists. However, in my view, the subsequent sell-off may have created a short-term buying opportunity for long-term investors. Let’s take a closer look.

A cyber solution based on artificial intelligence

In the world of corporate cyber security, CrowdStrike is currently a global leader. Its technology is exceptionally expensive, and yet companies around the world are more than happy to pay. This is in part because the subscription costs of the Falcon platform are much lower than those of a security breach. But mostly because Falcon continues to outperform rival solutions.

The technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and defend against cyber attacks with impressive efficiency. And the capabilities of the platform are continuously demonstrated at global cyber competitions. In fact, at the most recent SC Awards Europe – the longest running annual cyber security event – ​​CrowdStrike won:

• The best cloud security solution
• The best endpoint solution
• The best AI solution
• The best anti-threat intelligence technology
• The best categories of incident response solutions

This is not the first time that CrowdStrike has demonstrated the effectiveness of its technology. And while the recent IT outage raised eyebrows, the mistake was ultimately unrelated to its cyber defense capabilities. Afterwards, there seems to have been little customer attrition except Delta Airlineswho decided to become a lawyer.

Performance dependent assessment

Following the IT outage, CrowdStrike shares were halved. And such volatility is to be expected given that the stock was trading at a fairly high valuation. US stocks have recovered slightly today, but are still trading around 25% lower. However, even at this price point, the stock doesn’t look cheap in the traditional, upfront sense price-earnings ratio of 72.5!

Needless to say, this doesn’t exactly scream bargain. But with a little context, the assessment starts to make more sense. Management outlined its long-term objective of growing its operating profit margin to the 28-32% range, with free cash flow margins following at 34-38%.

Given that the firm has only just started to break even, this suggests that a huge earnings boost could be on the horizon. Even more so if the forecasts of expansion around the cyber security industry turn out to be correct.

Of course, success is by no means guaranteed. And even though CrowdStrike’s technology currently holds the crown, a cheaper rival solution could emerge and shake things up.

It goes without saying that investing in CrowdStrike today comes with a lot of risk. But in my opinion, the growth trajectory of this business makes it a risk worth taking. That’s why I plan to open a small position this month.