Cybersecurity
Are cloud computing companies offering a second bite Are cloud computing companies offering a second bite at the cherry?
On 18 December 2022, Jason Lemkin posted a blog titled “Right Back to Where We Were 3 Years Ago.” It caught my attention or those of us who have been following the performance of software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud computing companies. It tells us, quite clearly, that the impact of the ‘pandemic pull-forward’ of demand for software consumption is completely removed from the 3-year performance number.
To us, it means that it is time to ask a simple question: is the market giving us a ‘do-over’, meaning that we can now access companies at something similar to ‘pre-pandemic’ levels, or is the jig up and the cloud business model doomed to fade away into the sunset?
SaaS companies have evolved significantly since 2019
In Figure 2, we wanted to look at valuation over the same period. Even if the share price performances of the underlying companies have run up and then fallen back in most cases—leading to the observed performance of the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index—we have not been seeing companies reporting widespread negative year-over-year revenue growth. Instead, we’ve tended to see the revenue growth ranges shifting downwards, with the median figure for the Index now closer to the 30% level, whereas it was higher than 40% for a period of time ending roughly one year ago.
If prices have dropped but sales have continued to grow, it’s possible to see that the valuation opportunity at present is better than it was in December of 2019, 3-years ago. In Figure 2, we see that the price-to-sales ratio was 7.0-8.0x during this period, whereas presently it is below 4.5x. We agree that these stocks should be less expensive today, in that the risk today is higher and the cost of capital is also higher. We can’t know with certainty if the current price levels perfectly encapsulate this risk, but it is simply important to know that the risk does look like it is being accounted for.
In our opinion, within software-as-a-service companies, one must always marry looking at valuation with looking at revenue growth. Many of these firms, as yet, do not carry through positive net income to the bottom lines of their income statements, so if one can look at a reasonable fundamental, sales seems to make the most sense at this point in the development of the megatrend. We do view this as a megatrend, which means the time horizon we are thinking about is not the next 12 months or couple of years, but something that should unfold over a decade.
Growth, on the other hand, has come down more slowly than valuation. Now, this is ‘revenue growth’, not earnings growth or cash flow growth, but we note that companies are still growing, and some are still delivering results ahead of Wall Street’s expectations. If the Nasdaq 100 is growing something close to 10% and the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index is growing something close to 30%, is this a worthwhile trade-off? The Nasdaq Index represents, predominantly, proven, established businesses, with some of the world’s most valuable companies, measured by their market capitalisations, getting the top weights. This risk profiles of these groups of stocks should be quite different, but if we are able to think not of the next 12 months but rather the next 10 years, does the difference in risk potentially make sense?
We do feel comfortable to conclude there is a better chance to make sense at the present valuation trade-off than it did at the near-term market high observed in November 2021, even if it’s impossible to know the future with certainty.
Where the rubber meets the road: what do SaaS companies do?
In our opinion, no discussion of cloud computing or SaaS companies is complete without giving some treatment to what the companies do. SaaS is just a business model—a way to provide/consume software that competes with other ways to provide/consume software. Do people prefer subscription models, or would they want to go back to a world where they need to buy a DVD and physically hold and use their own copy? If the software is necessary and valuable, and the company can execute their strategy, we have confidence in the long term. If, on the other hand, the software is discretionary and more ‘nice-to-have’ than needed, then there could be more risks. We see the following functional groupings as a starting point:
Cybersecurity: companies like CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Cloudflare, Zscaler and Darktrace focus on cybersecurity. Subscribing to cybersecurity protection makes sense because we know that the attackers are always evolving. Stagnant protection would eventually lead to limited protection. Many SaaS cybersecurity firms are not necessarily trading at single digit price-to-sales multiples, but it’s also the case that cybersecurity has received massive attention from investors in 2022, largely due to the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
Software development: companies like Twilio, Atlassian and New Relic are involved with running platforms useful to software development. Twilio and Atlassian have faced challenges in their share price performance during their most recent quarterly earnings reporting periods. However, we believe that the service they provide for software development remains critical.
Business services: a company like Bill.com is very interesting, in that it is an example of a service that helps small and mid-sized firms manage their expenses. It’s a good case to remember because companies will tend to employ services like this to create efficiencies and save costs and time. We couldn’t ever say this company (or others like it) would be immune to recessionary pressures, but we find it important to note that it also may not be the first subscription to cut either.
Cloud computing and software-as-a-service companies do not have long histories of operation where we can look back at their performance during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09, and we’d have to assume that, if they were around in 2001 and 2002, their performance as the ‘tech bubble’ burst would have been significantly negative. To say these companies are completely resilient to recession is not a thesis that has been proving out in 2022. However, we’d note that their revenues are still growing, so it’s not the case either that these companies immediately reverted to negative revenue growth and collapsing fundamentals. If people view this as a megatrend, as we do at WisdomTree, the current period in the coming months could be a much more interesting entry point than anything we have seen recently, even if near-term performance could still be challenging.
CRWD SoS IncomingCRWD has same pattern as rest of cyber names, needs to finish up accumulation before markup:
Breakout level 106.80
- Initial target 113 by 1/30/2023 (this will be the sign of strength)
- Backup/retest to find support at 106-107 by 2/8/2023
- First Markup target will be 123 by 3/1/2023
Gap to fill from 118-136
Resistance at 109-116
CISO | Good Time to Enter | LONGCerberus Cyber Sentinel Corporation operates as a security services company in the United States. Its cybersecurity services include managed security, cybersecurity consulting, compliance auditing, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, disaster recovery, and data backup solutions and cybersecurity training services, as well as security operations center set-up and consulting services. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
BB | Great Opportunity to Enter | LONGBlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cybersecurity, IoT, and Licensing and Other. The company offers BlackBerry Cyber Suite, which provides Cylance AI and machine learning-based cybersecurity solutions, including BlackBerry Protect, an EPP and available MTD solution; BlackBerry Optics, an EDR solution that provides visibility into and prevention of malicious activity; BlackBerry Guard, a managed detection and response solution; BlackBerry Gateway, an AI-empowered ZTNA solution; and BlackBerry Persona, a UEBA solution that provides authentication by validating user identity in real time. It also provides BlackBerry Spark Unified Endpoint Management Suite, such as BlackBerry UEM, a central software component of its secure communications platform; BlackBerry Dynamics that provides a development platform and secure container for mobile applications; BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry Alert secure and networked critical event management solutions; and SecuSUITE for Government, a multi-OS voice and text messaging solution, as well as BBM Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution. In addition, the company offers BlackBerry QNX, which provides Neutrino operating system and BlackBerry QNX CAR platform, and other products; BlackBerry QNX, an embedded system solution; BlackBerry Jarvis, a cloud-based binary static application security testing platform; BlackBerry Certicom cryptography and management products, and BlackBerry Radar asset monitoring solution; and BlackBerry IVY, an intelligent vehicle data platform, as well as enterprise and cybersecurity consulting services. Further, it is involved in the patent licensing and legacy service access fees business. As of February 28, 2022, it owned approximately 38,000 worldwide patents and applications. BlackBerry Limited was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Waterloo, Canada.
CyberSec/Computing Industry Q4 '22 Overview and CommentaryIt may just be that the market deities have heard our prayers. After unceasing YTD losses for NASDAQ, Q4 has provided a dose of much-need upside for embattled tech investors. Over the past month, QQQ is trading +6% in what sets a bullish baseline for the rest of NASDAQ. The broader rally in US tech equities is likely motivated by a number of factors, including a recent slowdown in Fed Reserve rate hikes, a surge in consumer spending around the holiday season, and a slight improvement in macroeconomic sentiment. Given these nascent yet promising signals, I want to examine their impact on an assortment of equities in the cybersecurity and computing industries.
Clustered around QQQ's trendline are a number of cyber mainstays that have closely tracked the market's recovery over the past month. For instance, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is +4.33% and Hub Security (HUB.TA) is +4.71%, whereas cyber ETFs like BUG (+3.4%) and CIBR (+5%) all witnessed bullish price action movement. Though these players came in slightly behind QQQ's monthly performance, their single-digit gains are a strong testament to both retail and institutional demand for cyber security equities, particularly in today's world of increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyber attacks. HUB specifically has tracked impressive growth over recent weeks due to forward regulatory progress regarding its impending SPAC listing on NASDAQ via RNER.
The outlier of the field is CrowdStrike (CRWD), which slumped some 20% on Nov 30th in response to disappointing Q3 financials. A general conclusion we can draw from these findings is that overall, investors remain bullish on cyber security in the LT even if they are feeling more skittish about underperformers in the ST.
For the sake of comparison, I threw Nvidia (NVDA) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) to see how things look a bit higher up the supply chain. Whereas cyber was up between 3-5%, NVDA and TSM both saw +22% gains over the past month. In my view, we're seeing this strong recovery as a delayed response to the volatility induced by the CHIPs Act gets finally priced in. For the uninitiated, the CHIPs Act was was passed this summer and represents a major federal subsidy to stimulate domestic chip and computing manufacturers. After weathering their fair share of volatility in Q3, chip staples like NVDA and TSM are already bouncing back strong.
Though cybersecurity and computing investors may be enjoying some relief, the market's response to new CPI and FOMC announcements this week may determine the direction NASDAQ assumes through end-Q4. In sum however, cyber and computing equities maintain bullish LT outlooks, and potential dips moving forward present strategic opportunities for industry-specific and tech investors.
S | Dollar Cost Average Into This One | WATCHINGSentinelOne, Inc. operates as a cybersecurity provider in the United States and internationally. The company's Extended Detection and Response (XDR) data stack that fuses together the data, access, control, and integration planes of endpoint protection platform, endpoint detection and response, cloud workload protection platform, and IoT security into a centralized platform. Its Singularity XDR Platform delivers an artificial intelligence-powered autonomous threat prevention, detection, and response capabilities across an organization's endpoints; and cloud workloads, which enables seamless and automatic protection against a spectrum of cyber threats. The company was formerly known as Sentinel Labs, Inc. and changed its name to SentinelOne, Inc. in March 2021. SentinelOne, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Have you experienced ‘Tool Sprawl’ in Cybersecurity?We recognise we have a diverse array of readers, probably some individual business owners, some employees of large companies, some employees of smaller companies and possibly even some people who are retired or between jobs.
Whatever your situation—how many different cybersecurity tools are you aware of that you interact with? A password manager? A single-sign-on interface? A specialist tool focused on email? Another specialist tool focused on accessing a cloud computing infrastructure?
The fact of the matter is that the more you learn about cybersecurity, the more you are awakened to a large number of providers that each specialise in different types of protection. We saw the term ‘tool sprawl’ used to describe the 2022 cybersecurity landscape—we thought it painted an informative picture1.
How many tools are customers using?
Enterprise customers may be managing portfolios of 60-80 tools, with those on the extreme higher end of the spectrum possibly managing up to 1402. Imagine managing all of these tools over the course of a normal business operation.
One reason why the current environment is characterised by so many tools could relate to the progression of the Chief Information Security Office (CISO) role. 10 years ago, the way a ‘good CISO’ was defined largely had to do with buying and deploying tools. The CISO in 2022 is now much more a top priority for a company’s board and C-suite, and now a ‘good CISO’ is evaluated based on outcomes rather than deploying tools3.
A survey conducted by Gartner found that 88% of Boards of Directors view cybersecurity as a ‘business risk’ rather than a ‘technology risk4.’
Of course, the attack surface in 2022 has also massively expanded, and frequently companies may be launched around new types of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, to use one example that could also lead to the proliferation of companies.
Dealmaking is already taking off in 2022
Through 18 August 2022, private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies have backed 162 cybersecurity deals worldwide, valued at $34.9 billion. If this pace continues, it could surpass 2021’s tally of $36.4 billion across 308 transactions5.
One driver—valuations. 2020 and much of 2021 saw the most newly public cybersecurity companies, many of which were focused on the cloud, experience massive multiple expansion and therefore premium valuations. The growth was strong, but the prices were not inexpensive in an environment where the cost of capital had been very low for a very long time.
With the rise of inflation and then the shift in policy of many central banks going from expansionary support of growth, many of these companies experienced dramatic multiple compression. This allows private equity players focused on building consolidated product offerings to pick up interesting companies at much lower prices.
Thoma Bravo is one such player that has been quite active. Just in the identity space, Thoma has done deals to acquire Ping Identity for $2.8 billion and SailPoint for $6.9 billion6.
Consolidation is a big desire from customers—possibly a response to the ‘tool sprawl’ that we mentioned earlier. There is a feeling in the market that there might already be too many companies, so it’s not just about more innovation but also building integrated platforms so customers can go to one place and get more services.
Option3 is an example of a firm that has shifted from funding new firms to acquiring late-stage middle-market companies for buy-and-build strategies. They are planning to raise a $250 million buyout fund dedicated to a platform acquisition strategy7.
Private equity firms are attracted to cybersecurity companies for many reasons, but it is noted that they have exhibited lower churn rates than other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) businesses. They also have tended to generate high margins.
What about the slowing economic environment?
As is the case with many things, historical comparisons can only take us so far. If we think about the state of cybersecurity in 2007-2009, encompassing the ‘Great Recession’, it was totally different. Cybersecurity budgets are much different in 2022 than they were in 2007 heading into that significant slowdown8.
One doesn’t need to look too far to see quotes from experts indicating that even if cybersecurity spending could be impacted by a slower economic environment, it most likely wouldn’t be as impacted as other areas. There are many things that are regulatory requirements or viewed as ‘table stakes’ to the ongoing operation of companies, which make them that much more difficult to cut.
Regulators are also upping the ante. The Securities and Exchange Commission in the US has explored a rule that would require disclosure of a ‘material cybersecurity incident’ in a public filing. Disclosure would also have to be quite quick after the event—possibly a response to certain types of attacks and breaches like SolarWinds, where months after the fact the scope of potential damage was growing and growing9.
Even if regulators do not mandate spending more on cybersecurity, their pursuit of certain types of rules would be likely to have that impact.
Conclusion: a megatrend for all seasons?
Norges Bank Investment Management, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund at $1.2 trillion, recently indicated that cybersecurity is their biggest current concern, citing that it faces an average of three serious attacks each day. The fund sees roughly 100,000 attacks per year, and they classify about 1,000 of them as serious10.
Firms operating in the financial industry have been increasingly targeted, and firms operating in the Nordic region feel the proximity to Russia during the Ukraine conflict quite tangibly.
While many investment themes might be a bit discretionary or susceptible to delays in a slowing economic environment, cybersecurity is not one of them. We may not know the exact companies or services that will grow the fastest but backing away from focusing on security is not an option.
Sources
1 Source: Alspach, Kyle. “Thanks to the economy, cybersecurity consolidation is coming. CISOs are more than ready.” Protocol. 17 June 2022
2 Source: Alspach, 17 June 2022.
3 Source: Alspach, 17 June 2022.
4 Source: “Gartner Survey Finds 88% of Boards of Directors View Cybersecurity as a Business Risk.” Gartner. Press Release. 18 November 2021.
5 Source: Shi, Madeline. “PE dealmaking thrives in cybersecurity sector.” Pitchbook. 23 August 2022.
6 Source: Shi, 23 August 2022.
7 Source: Shi, 23 August 2022.
8 Source: Alspach, Kyle. “Cybersecurity spending isn’t recession-proof. But it’s pretty close.” Protocol. 6 June 2022.
9 Source: Alspach, Kyle. “’Game-changer’: SEC rules on cyber disclosure would boost security planning, spending.” VentureBeat. 10 March 2022.
10 Source: Klasa, Adrienne & Robin Wigglesworth.” Financial Times. 22 August 2022.
Cyber Security Players Under- and Outperforming $QQQAs we all know, its been a particularly volatile year for NASDAQ and tech equities across the board. At its lowest YTD (on 11.3), QQQ was down nearly 35%. A 7% intraday rally picked NASDAQ up from its bottom, but the trend is clear: with rising inflation, shrinking consumer savings, and broader downturns in the global macroeconomic environment, investors are losing their appetite for risker tech plays. Despite the gloom and doom that has fallen over many over course of what is one of US equity markets worst years on record, cyber security is one industry that has remained competitive, largely in response to two mega trends: 1) an uptick in the frequency and sophistication of cyber offensive operations, and 2) increased public scrutiny of cyber security as a consequence of the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war.
So which cyber security companies are outperforming baseline indices and which ones are falling short? At the top of our list are HUB.TA (+2.48% over past 3mo) and PANW (+1.24%) over the same time frame. Palo Alto Networks is a staple of many blue chip tech funds, and the company remains one of the leading names in the date security field. Despite significant volatility in both markets and supply chains, PANW has continued to post strong financials as it tracks modest gains amidst double-digit losses.
The MVP of the past 3 months is HUB Security, currently traded on TASE as HUB.TA but is eyeing an imminent NASDAQ listing via SPAC merger with RNER under the symbol HUBC. Driving HUB.TA's strong recent performance is anticipation over its US listing. Just in recent days the SEC released an amended F4, signifying that the final regulatory hurdles are being tackled prior to HUB's delisting from NASDAQ and simultaneous NASDAQ listing. HUBC will start trading at $10/share for an initial capitalization of ~$1.3b, so keep this outperformer on your watchlist.
Underperforming QQQ are other cyber blue chips that have struggled to eke out price action gains over the past quarter. Microsoft, Intel, Radware, and Crowdstrike are all underperforming the NASDAQ baseline due to a number of reasons. INTC is still struggling to finds it footing after the passage of the CHIPs Act in August, which fundamentally reorganized the domestic chip and computing manufacturing ecosystem. RDWR missed its Q3 earnings forecast, potentially contributing to its recent drop. Despite its poor recent performance, CRWD still retains the trust and admiration of analysts, who have flagged its an undervalued stock ready for gains given a change in the macro backdrop.
Its been quite the year for equity traders and investors, but I for one am looking forward to a bullish 2023. This is not financial advice, just some personal commentary. Trade responsibly.
CRWD | Good Entry Point | Swing TradeCrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. provides cloud-delivered protection across endpoints and cloud workloads, identity, and data. It offers threat intelligence, managed security services, IT operations management, threat hunting, Zero Trust identity protection, and log management. The company primarily sells subscriptions to its Falcon platform and cloud modules through its direct sales team that leverages its network of channel partners. It serves customers worldwide. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Austin, Texas.
$HUB.TA Jumps >20% after Bosch Collab, Tech Market Lags BehindWhereas September proved to be one of the worst months in the history of equities markets, the volatility and ongoing uncertainty October has delivered thus far has been little reprieve. One outperformer amidst all of the red is Hub Security (TASE: HUB), a confidential computing and cyber security disruptor that is going public on NASDAQ via SPAC merger with RNER for an expected Q4 listing. Just last week Hub announced the submission of an updated F4 to the SEC, indicating that the company is checking off the final regulatory agenda items before the listing can take place.
My tech portfolio has been in danger zone for about the past 6 months, but HUB is a rare outperformer despite today's bearish conditions. Over the past month, HUB.TA +22% whereas both market baselines are down (NDX -5%, TA90 -7%) and sectoral ETFs (BUG -5.3%, HACK -4.9%). That's a differential of nearly 30%, and its in response to a clear though quiet catalyst.
On October 12th, HUB announced a collaboration with Bosch (NYSE: BSWQY), a major global producer of automotive products with a nearly $500bn market cap. Hub is providing cyber security for Bosch data centers in Hanover Germany in a pilot project that showcases the need for advanced solutions for critical infrastructure manufacturers. The data centers in question are for Bosch's cutting edge hydrogen fuel cells, meaning that collaboration testifies to both companies' dedication to ESG and net neutrality.
This latest partnership is the latest in a series of high-profile deals inked by Hub in the leadup to its NASDAQ debut. In recent months the company has entered engagements with both public and private sector actors ranging from MoDs to central banks and big-cap listed companies. The Bosch deal exerted a little reported though double-digit impact on Hub share price, and this is exactly the type of accumulation investors should be looking for on the heels of a listing.
Main Expected Path & Alt PathMapped out the most likely (solid green) and 2nd most likely (dashed black) trajectories:
Most likely:
174 by 10/19/2022
152 by 10/21
204 by 10/31
184 by 11/3
216 by 11/9/2022
2nd most likely/alt. (would take longer to play out than main path, see dates on chart):
195
162
247
215
267
FTNT Rolling LowerFortinet is a big player in cybersecurity with strong revenue growth and rapidly growing demand for its services. In the very Long-term, Fortinet should do well.
However, FTNT's technicals are signaling weakness on a more medium-term basis. The last year of FTNT price action has led to a rounded top formation. One could also argue that Fortinet shows signs of a head and shoulders pattern during the aforementioned period. Fortinet as of the past 7 months is now trading in a downward channel. The recent low recorded last week of 47.5 helps to confirm the continuation of bearishness in future trading. MACD on monthly/weekly/daily all are signaling further pain. The Weekly MACD is especially bearish, currently residing at its most negative level in FTNT's history.
Global market conditions are poor, and seemingly getting worse. Unfortunately, history has taught us that during periods of slowed economic activity amid monetary tightening great companies often sell off alongside their less successful peers (although not to the same degree).
To conclude: FTNT is experiencing a troubling technical outlook combined with a slowing economy/beaten-down consumer, I do not believe FTNT will be able to stay at such a high valuation with a p/e of 60, despite continued high demand. In the near term, I am looking for a move to 44.3 where the 50% fib retracement level sits. Looking further out, I expect a move down to the 30.2-27.1 range which has been an area of previous strong support as well as a 78.6% fib level. From there a rebound or consolidation period for Fortinet is likely.
As always this is not financial advice. Good luck!
$HUB.TA Outpaces CyberSecurity Sector Ahead of NASDAQ ListingAfter hitting dramatic lows in June that saw the ^IXIC (Nasdaq Comp. Index) down >30% YTD, Nasdaq and the tech sector as a whole has witnessed a bullish rally over the past month. Despite some of the tech giants missing the mark on Q2 earnings, Nasdaq has enjoyed robust capital inflows in the past month as investor sentiment begins to improve. The passage of the US CHIPS Act last week was seen by many tech investors as a windfall for the semiconductor, chips, and computing industry thanks to upcoming subsidies and governmental incentives for domestic manufacturers; this legislative action has infused some confidence into the broader market.
One area of the broader tech space that has consistently traded strongly despite poor performance this year are cyber security stocks. The rising trend of offensive cyber operations targeting public and private actors alike has reinforced the critical need for cyber defensive architecture. The HXR Cyber ETF as well as RDWR are +12% and +8.3% respectively, closely tracking QQQ's +12% jump the past month. Other have shown more modest growth, such as PANQ (+2%) and CHKP (+2.6%).
And then onto the outliers. FTNT got hammered in August with 12% losses due to erroneous revenue guidance issued by management on top of some analyst downgrades to overvalued. In other words, looks like Fortinet is going through a short-term correction.
Our bullish outlier is HUB Security, as Israeli confidential computing equity that is in the final stages of completing a SPAC-driven NASDAQ listing. HUB shares on TASE are up 38% in the past month and continuing to climb as more investors jump on board in anticipation of the company's much-vaunted US listing.
$MNDT Outpaces its Sectorial Peers The technology sector has played a leading role in powering the market's gains over the past couple of decades. Tech's ability to shape almost every industry means the sector remains one of the best starting places for investors seeking big gains, even during this bearish market.
My top pick for this sector is MNDT, a cybersecurity disruptor that is a winner for your growing portfolio today. As seen in the chart, MNDT (+31.94% YTD) is far-outperforming its sectoral peers as tech has taken a double-digit tumble in recent months. For instance, mega cap tech companies such as MSFT (-17.90% YTD), APPL (-12% YTD) and GOOGL (-20.60% YTD) have all underperformed relative to MNDT. This is the case too for FTNT, a fellow cybersecurity player, which has registered a 9% decline YTD despite outpacing the broader tech sector as a whole. Sectoral cybersecurity ETF’s like BUG (-16%), XLK (-18%) and CIBR (-18%) also lag far behind MNDT’s YTD gains. Relative to QQQ, MNDT has outpaced the Nasdaq baseline by some 50%, indicating just how bullish this stock is against the backdrop of an ongoing bear market.
$HUB.TA Outperforms Sectoral and Market Indices YTD Despite the market's emergent rally in July, 2022 has been a punishing year for tech equities worldwide. Recent Q2 earning from megacap tech players in the US deepen concerns about diminishing margins and slowed hiring moving into Q3/4 and beyond. YTD, Nasdaq is down -21%, and unerperformed the DOW, S&P500, and Russell2000.
One sector with more bullish short-to-intermediate term prospects is cyber security and confidential computing. HUB.TA, which is headed for a NASDAQ listing this year via SPAC merger with RNER has clearly outperformed sectoral peers such as IBM (-1.38%) and CYBER (-22.8%) YTD with its gains of +32% despite some heightened volatiity surrounding its imminent merger. HUB likewise outperformed sectoral ETFs like BUG (-17.8%) and CIBR (-19.17%), making this Israeli confidential computing equity an attractive watchlist item for those eyeing its TASE delisting and the initiation of trading on NASDAQ.
Blackberry RebornBlackberry has very nice upside potential but considering the timing of the historical swings, waiting 5-6 years for a 30X move is not something I'm personally interested in. The Digital Surf Community has outlined numerous other stocks/cryptos with high trajectory that are likely due for completion at a much earlier timeframe.
Blackberry is a bit of nostalgic company for me however and I am very much rooting for their future success. I bought a Blackberry Sidekick with my first military check, well over a decade ago. Its a bit refreshing to see how they've rebranded themselves and made a transition from cellular services to now working in the Cybersecurity spectrum (which is now a professional field for me as well).
I am not entirely sure what news is to come for BB but over the next few years but it shall be the beneficial/good kind. If you have 4-6 years to wait on such a 30X move, now is the best time to enter your positions. Personally, I don't have that much patience and honestly, the anticipated 30X move pales in comparison to some of the other items we're currently monitoring at Digital Surf Trading Community.
If you're a Blackberry fanatic, die hard investor, this is for you. Share, comment and like this post if you find it helpful at all.
Surf well and don't drown.
HUB.TA Jumps +50% in June as Global Tech Industry Slumps2022 has proven a volatile year for HUB Security investors, and not for the reasons dragging down the tech industry at large. Back in March '22, HUB (now listed on TASE) announced the closure of a SPAC agreement with RNER for a Q3/4 NASDAQ listing. After an astronomical rise to over 900ILA from ~380ILA at the start of the year, the stock took a nosedive to a YTD low of 261LA in early May. Investor jitters over the SPAC deal, the global pullback of the tech industry and stocks, and a worsening macro-economic backdrop overall were the main drivers of this see-saw motion over the past 6 months.
Things are looking quite a bit greener this past month--June 2022--as HUB has regained its footing and is currently tracking a highly-encouraging uptrend. From its May 12th yearly low, HUB has climbed to over 600ILA and counting. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is getting clobbererd--as you can see, QQQ and leading cyber ETFs like CIBR and BUG are all down around 4-5% in the past month. Similarly, two of HUB's closest peers in the confidential computing sector--PANW and FTNT--are also down about 2%. Though confidential computing seems to be outperforming tech/cyber as a whole, the niche is still in the red amidst rising turbulence on global equity markets. So what is behind HUB's recovery and recent gains?
I added HUB to my watchlist back in March following their SPAC deal, and have been closely watching as their SIR inched upwards MoM. HUB's SIR moved from 0.48 on May 12 to 0.84 on May 19th and then 0.82 on May 26th. That means >80% of trade volume was dominated by short activity. The company has clearly been making moves to combat malicious shorting, including the company's announcement of intention to buy back $4.5M USD worth of shares in order to force the shorts to cover. On June 9th SIR had been driven back down to 0.48, helping to explain the early-month momentum. While SIR had jumped back to 0.7 as of June 16th, it looks like the bulls had already established some upward momentum. HUB SP has increased by more than 50% in the past week alone, strongly suggesting that investors are trying to establish positions in anticipation of the value multiplier shareholders will enjoy come the NASDAQ listing.
I will be interested to see how HUB's SIR looks on June 23rd, but higher-than-average trade volume and a month-long uptrend (see PVT, 30D MA shown on chart) are signs that despite the worsening economic picture on a macro-level, HUB is trading strong and girding for success on US Markets.
Buying Opportunity: Cloudflare (NET)Chart analysis is showing that Cloudflare (NET) is trying to form a bottom at an important Fibonacci level. Currently, there is momentum to the downside on the daily chart and a gap to be closed at 46.38. It's therefore likely that with the downward momentum, NET will attempt to close this gap and then quickly rebound up to 59 as it will also try to maintain price at or above this level for the monthly close. The weekly charts are already showing bullish signs and the asset's underperformance relative to the S&P 500 has already slowed down, which virtually always occurs right before a reversal. The Wave Trend Oscillator by @LazyBear shows that momentum to the downside on the highest timeframes is already bottomed and will soon start to revert back to the upside. On the daily chart, Heikin Ashi candles and Fibonacci Bollinger Bands also show signs of a bottoming pattern forming. The daily RSI has been showing bullish divergence since May. Therefore entering NET at prices around the gap closure at 46.38 could be a great risk-reward entry for long-term investors. Although anything is possible, it's statistically unlikely that NET will make a full retracement and fall much lower than the gap closure. In the years to come, Cloudflare will likely go to the moon.
Not financial advice.
CIBR Cybersecurity: M-pattern may retest 0.618 pivot near 34CIBR seems to be making a M-pattern & is now at 39, a 50% retracement. If the yellow zone does not hold 39, then the next will be the 0.618 pivot support at 34 which is also a 200% retracement of the latest rally.
34 is also located near the base of my slanted FIB CHANNEL. 34 may be the bottom of the ABC correction & the start of a new 5 wave uptrend inside this FIB CHANNEL.
After this correction, Cybersecurity & Defense stocks should do well in these times of geo-political unrest.
Not trading advice