Wall Street analysts are showing two cybersecurity stocks some love ahead of their quarterly results. The news Evercore ISI this week raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $455 from $395, implying a nearly 18% upside from Monday’s close. The analysts said that recent channel commentary not only “sounded notably more positive” ahead of the quarter, but also had a “strong emphasis on solid execution across the board.” They maintained their buy-equivalent rating on shares. On Tuesday, Jefferies went to $450 a share from $400, with analysts expecting healthy results. In addition, Truist on Monday raised its price target on Palo Alto to $425 from $387 a share. The firm’s analysts argued that Palo Alto’s recent shift to “platformization” — a sales strategy that bundles its products and services together — looks promising. “Larger platformization deals are leading to bigger long-term commitments,” Truist said, citing conversations with Palo Alto customers and partners. Truist also said there could be a sell-off on results if investors see a deceleration in billing — despite management’s continued emphasis on remaining performance obligation (RPO) as a better gauge of success. Shares are down slightly Tuesday amid a broader market decline on rising geopolitical tensions from the Ukraine-Russia war. Palo Alto will post quarterly results Wednesday after the market closes. PANW YTD mountain Palo Alto Networks (PANW) year-to-date performance Big picture Palo Alto Networks had a rocky start to 2024. In February, management cut its full-year guidance for revenue and billings as it pivoted to the platformization strategy, which required the company to give more discounts on its offerings. But CEO Nikesh Arora said the move would lead to more revenue growth in the long term as the industry consolidates. As a result, the stock had its single worst session since 2012 following the release. Palo Alto shares seesawed for several months, but ultimately recovered, and have even outperformed the broader market year to date — up 31% versus the S & P 500 ‘s 23% advance. That doesn’t mean Palo Alto is in the clear this quarter. Wall Street will pore over the earnings results for signs that the platformization bet is paying off. Bottom line Palo Alto’s sales strategy is a great way to capitalize on a consolidating industry, and it should help the company grab more share from its peers. We saw the stock’s decline earlier this year as short-term pain for long-term gains. Still, we’re eager to hear what management has to say about the return on investment (ROI) for these sales incentives during the earnings call. The Club is also looking for commentary on the state of cybersecurity spending, which can give investors another read into demand for Palo Alto’s offerings. So far, the industry has been a great space to invest in as the risks of hacks and virtual breaches continue to increase. “This still remains the hottest sector in the entire economy,” Jim Cramer said Monday. CRWD YTD mountain CrowdStrike (CRWD) year-to-date performance The news Morgan Stanley on Monday forecasted more upside for CrowdStrike , which reports results after the bell on Nov. 26. The analysts raised their price target on the cybersecurity stock to $355 a share from $325. That’s 4% higher than Monday’s closing price. They forecasted a bump in share price on better-than-expected earnings because “investor sentiments remain largely negative” following a global IT outage that CrowdStrike caused back in July. Net bookings for CrowdStrike will be better than feared, the analysts say, leading to better net new average recurring revenue estimates. “Overall, we remain confident ahead of the [fiscal third quarter] and believe CRWD remains a long-term share gainer as the security market consolidates to fewer players,” the analysts said, reiterating their buy-equivalent rating on shares. CrowdStrike stock is up 0.8% Tuesday after initially falling on geopolitical concerns in early trading. Big picture The upcoming earnings report is the first full quarter since CrowdStrike’s outage, which disrupted businesses across the globe. (The incident occurred within the last two weeks of the August quarter.) Although the cyber stock plummeted nearly 11% in the session following the news, it has risen back to pre-outage levels. That doesn’t mean Wall Street has completely shrugged off the incident: Analysts still want to see how the business has been impacted. Bottom line Jim has also touted CrowdStrike’s “remarkable comeback” since July. Now, we’re looking to ensure there hasn’t been churn, or customers leaving, from the outage. And as with Palo Alto, remarks from management should give us a peek into the state of cyber spending overall. We scooped up more shares of CrowdStrike Tuesday on its brief early morning decline. The market’s reaction was unwarranted. Escalating geopolitical conflicts will likely require more protection from cybersecurity attacks, making CrowdStrike’s services all the more necessary. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long PANW, CRWD. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. 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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 27, 2018.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Wall Street analysts are showing two cybersecurity stocks some love ahead of their quarterly results.