The world is still not prepared for cyberattacks.
And along the way, it’s costing us trillions of dollars. In fact, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, “We expect global cybercrime damage costs to grow by 15 percent per year over the next three years, reaching $10.5 trillion USD annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion USD in 2015.”
Companies, like Clorox are still recovering from an attack. Even cybersecurity firm, Okta gapped lower after a data breach. What makes it worse is news that 65% of small to medium businesses don’t think – or aren’t sure they’re cyberattack targets, as noted in an OpenText 2023 Cybersecurity Global Ransomware Survey.
With the cyber issue only set to get worse – and far more expensive, keep an eye on cybersecurity stocks, like Palo Alto Networks (PANW).
The company just noted that revenue jumped 20% to $1.88 billion year over year, which beat estimates for $1.84 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.38 beat expectations of $1.16. GAAP earnings jumped from six cents to 56 cents year over year.
Unfortunately, total billings – which jumped 16% year over year to $2.02 billion —missed estimates by five cents. It also missed the company’s range of $2.02 to $2.08 billion. That miss in billings is why PANW gapped lower the other day, creating a buying opportunity.
Granted, billings are a way to gauge the health of a company long-term. But in the case of PANW, it had nothing to do with demand. Instead, the bookings drop had more to do with the discounts and financing plans it was offering to its consumers.
