Enhanced connectivity and extensive use of IT are certainly transforming the world. But increased digitalization in both personal and professional lives has resulted in an array of cybersecurity risks.
From phones, tabloids to laptops, anything that is on a wireless network faces the risk of cyberattacks.
And companies suffer immensely at the hands of ransomware. Companies also face threats like distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks that can completely shut down web pages or web services.
What’s more, the coronavirus pandemic has now prompted companies, schools and other organizations to operate remotely, increasing the demand for strong cybersecurity solutions.
The need for cybersecurity to protect health data is also on the rise. Cybersecurity solutions are now more needed by hospitals and health systems to manage health care’s evolving cybersecurity risks, and safeguard patients.
Harjinder Singh Lallie of University of Warwick in England, in the meantime, pointed out that there has been an uptick in cyberattacks and cybercrime campaigns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that “these scams target members of the public generally, as well as the millions of individuals working from home. Cyber-attacks have also targeted critical infrastructure such as health care services.”
The cybersecurity market, by the way, is already booming. To put things into perspective, even though business capital expenditures have dropped substantially in recent times, investment in global cybersecurity products and services continues to rise. Outlays on cybersecurity products and services are supposed to increase at an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2016 to 2021, per one of the leading data and intelligence companies for information technology, International Data Corporation.
With that in mind and demand for digital protection poised to rise over the long term, here’re five shortlisted cybersecurity stocks to keep an eye on –
FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE), Inc. FEYE is a specialized provider of a security platform against cyberattacks to enterprises and governments. FireEye has been capitalizing the growth in cybersecurity on its powerful technology MVX engine, through which it delivers differentiated security offerings, including a proprietary hypervisor that offers real-time analysis of sophisticated malware threats.
FireEye has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up more than 100% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter and year is 250% and 400%, respectively. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD), Inc. CRWD provides cloud-native endpoint protection software. The Falcon platform automatically investigates threats and takes the guesswork out of threat analysis.
CrowdStrike has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 33.3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next quarter is 28.6% and 50%, respectively.
Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) Ltd. CHKP provides computer and network security solutions to governments and enterprises. Its IntelliStore provides customizable threat intelligence, letting companies and organizations choose real-time threat intelligence sources that fit their needs.
Check Point Software has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has climbed 4.3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next year is 7.7% and 3.6%, respectively.
Cloudflare (NYSE:NET), Inc. NET is known for providing security and content-delivery services that will help protect web pages and applications from cyberattacks. The company provides such support to more than 27 million websites, and blocks almost 72 billion cyber threats per day.
Cloudflare has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 10.5% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next quarter is 68.8% and 16.7%, respectively.
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA), Inc.’s OKTA security makes it easy to access laptops, tablets and phones. It keeps password and username safe and secure from all sorts of cyberattacks. Basically, when you log into your Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cloud, Box, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) or even LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) accounts, you will be using the security of Okta.
Okta has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 89.5% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 71.4%.
These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic
The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking.
Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early.
See the 5 high-tech stocks now>>
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