We're still being targeted when it comes to cyber attacks, which creates an opportunity to buy some top cybersecurity stocks.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that attacks on water utilities are becoming more frequent and severe, and is urging water systems to take immediate action to protect the nation's drinking water.
In Michigan, a ransomware attack on Ascension Rx pharmacies left them struggling to fill prescriptions. Other attacks this year included a denial of service (DDoS) attack on government services in France.
As CBS News noted, Change Healthcare has still not recovered from what has been called “the largest ever cybersecurity attack on the American healthcare system.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the International Monetary Fund, the global cost of cybercrime was $8.44 trillion in 2022. It could balloon to $23.84 trillion by 2027. Unfortunately, unless governments, businesses, schools, and the public take these threats more seriously, they will continue to get worse.
Until cybersecurity threats abate (which isn't likely to happen anytime soon), we recommend investing in some of the top cybersecurity stocks, including:
Radware (RDWR)
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Last time I mentioned Radware (Nasdaq:RDWR), which traded at $16.85 on April 29th.
At the time, I noted that the company had just announced a new Domain Name Service (DNS) Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack mitigation solution powered by artificial intelligence. Since then, the company's shares have skyrocketed to a high of $20.42.
Currently, the stock is overbought at double top resistance, so I will wait for the price to fall before buying further.
The company reported first-quarter earnings per share of 16 cents, beating expectations by 3 cents. Revenue of $65.1 million was down 5.7% year over year and also missing expectations by $1.53 million.
“During the quarter, a slight improvement in the business environment combined with a surge in cyber attacks led to a recovery in customer spending. Looking ahead to 2024, we intend to capitalize on strong growth in our cloud security business and across our partner channel, as well as the market need for best-in-class critical security. We believe we are well positioned for revenue growth and improved profitability,” said Roy Zisapel, president and CEO of Radware.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
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Oversold stocks Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq:Pan W) is also rising aggressively.
Since bottoming out around $260 in February, the stock has risen to $323.77. From here, we expect it to close the bearish gap first around $370. Revenues aren't bad either. Third quarter EPS was $1.23, up 7 cents. Revenue was $1.98 billion, up 15.1% year over year, up $10 million.
Going forward, the company now expects fourth-quarter sales to be in the range of $3.43 billion to $3.48 billion, which represents a growth range of 9% to 10% year over year, and total revenue to be $2.15 billion to $2.17 billion, compared to the forecast of $2.16 billion.
J.P. Morgan The firm raised its price target on PANW to $340 and gave it an overweight rating, while KeyBanc also raised its price target to $384 and gave it an overweight rating.
Even better, Palo Alto and IBM (New York Stock Exchange:IBM) have partnered to develop and sell artificial intelligence-powered security solutions for the digital world.
CyberArk (CYBR)
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After bottoming out at around $225, CyberArk (Nasdaq:cyber-) is starting to turn upward, and it's also one of the top cybersecurity stocks to buy today.
The stock is currently trading at $249.70 and could rise to $265 if it can break out of its 50-day moving average, aided by the company's recent acquisition of Venafi from Thoma Bravo for $1.54 billion in cash.
“This acquisition marks an important milestone for CyberArk, furthering our vision of protecting every human and machine identity with the right level of privilege controls,” said CyberArk CEO Matt Cohen.
CYBR's revenue is also strong. First-quarter EPS was 75 cents, up 48 cents from the same period last year. Revenue was $221.6 million, up 37% from the same period last year and up $8.38 million from the same period last year.translation) grew 54% year over year to $621 million. Total ARR also grew 69% to $156.2 million.
The company also raised its total revenue outlook for the second quarter. The company now expects total revenue to be in the range of $215 million to $221 million, or growth of 22% to 26%. For the full year, it expects total revenue to be in the range of $928 million to $938 million, or growth of 23% to 25%.
On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author in accordance with InvestorPlace.com's Publishing Guidelines..
