🛡️ This Cybersecurity Stock Is Hitting the Gas

Plus, Biden's plans to protect the American steel industry.

Happy Thursday afternoon to everyone on The Street. Here's a snapshot of where markets ended the trading session, plus tomorrow's trade idea delivered to you today.

  • 🟥 | US Stocks Fell on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell again today, marking the index’s longest losing streak since October. All three major indexes are positioned to see losses this week.

  • 📈 | One Notable Gainer: Online language learning app Duolingo saw a 5% pop in share price after JPMorgan gave the stock an overweight rating, claiming it has an attractive risk/reward with a nearly 40% upside.

  • 📉 | One Notable Decliner: Tesla shares slid 4% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy, citing its cancelation of the planned affordable vehicle and its robotaxi pivot.

  • 🛡️ | Tomorrow's Trade: This Cybersecurity Stock Is Hitting the Gas. Scroll down for more.

Plus, our partner today is offering custom alerts for U.S. options trading activity.

YESTERDAY’S POLL RESULTS

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Uber (UBER)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Monday.com (MNDY)

S&P 500 Heatmap. Credit: Finviz

All stocks on US exchanges. Credit: Finviz

Global ADR snapshot. Credit: Finviz

MARKET MOVERS

TSM (-5%) Taiwan Semiconductor reported that it did not experience structural damage from the earthquake, but some wafers “had to be scrapped” (CNBC)

JBLU (+4%) JetBlue’s stock rose on an upgrade to neutral from JPMorgan, which cited improved market sentiment and optimism on future performance (YF)

EL (+5%) Estée Lauder made substantial gains after Deutsche Bank added a short-term buy rating on the cosmetics giant in light of May 1 earnings (SA)

META (+2%) Shares of the tech giant rose on news of a partnership with Google to include its search results in its new AI assistant, Meta Llama 3 (BI)

ALK (+4%) Alaska Air Group’s stock traded higher after posting first-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations despite the Boeing incident (YF)

TOGETHER WITH CBOE

OVERHEARD ON THE STREET

AP: Biden vowed to shield the US steel industry by seeking new Chinese tariffs and blocking Japan’s Nippon Steel from acquiring US Steel.

CNBC: An internal email from Elon Musk says Tesla sent “incorrectly low” severance packages to laid-off employees.

Axios: Amazon pushed back on the perception of Just Walk Out and announced an expansion of third-party stores.

WSJ: BP will simplify its organizational structure and cut its executive team to 10 as it seeks to reduce duplication and complexity in management reporting lines.

NBC: Despite Eli Lilly’s assurances about sufficient supply of its new weight loss drug Zepbound, the company now faces widespread shortages.

TOMORROW’S TRADE IDEA, TODAY

Computer Science Security GIF by Sandia National Labs

A Two-Part Plan

The last two years have been rough for British cybersecurity company Darktrace (DRKTF). But Jefferies (JEF) is confident that the stock is on the up and up. 

According to Jefferies analysts, the cybersecurity company’s fiscal year is all planned out. It’s focused on stabilization in the first half and re-acceleration in the second half. The acceleration period is now happening sooner than expected, driving an update on how the firm is covering the stock.

The firm raised its price target from 550 pence ($6.84) per share to 890 pence ($11.07). It also reiterated a “buy” rating.

Outgrowing the Competition

According to the bank, Darktrace’s technology and growth-centric model will allow it to seize market share from its peers.

Jefferies is confident that continued acceleration will also allow the company to narrow the valuation gap between itself and its competitors.  

The cybersecurity sector is growing exponentially right now, and the bank is predicting industry growth of 9% annually.

Revenue Is Strong

Last week Darktrace reported third-quarter results that beat expectations. Net annualized recurring revenue was up 6%, reaching $29 million. Revenue as a whole was up 26%, and the company’s churn rate improved as well. 

Darktrace stock has an average price target of $7.09, around a 23% increase from Monday’s close. 

With the cybersecurity sector expanding and Darktrace's plan coming to fruition, its stock could provide a timely opportunity for investors.

Are you bullish or bearish on Darktrace (DRKTF) over the next 12 months?

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TOGETHER WITH CBOE

ON OUR RADAR

CBS: Consumer Reports claims pesticides pose a significant risk in 20% of fruits and vegetables after an analysis of 59 common produce items.

The Guardian: The EU has given TikTok 24 hours to provide a risk assessment over a new service that pays users for watching videos.

NYT: More TikTok pressure- House Speaker Mike Johnson has bundled a TikTok divestment bill into a foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

WSJ: A congressional probe found that Wall Street steered billions of dollars of American retirement savings to buy blacklisted Chinese companies.

Bloomberg: The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has converted the entire pool of assets held in an emergency fund for users into USDC.

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