What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after U.S. and international security agencies issued a joint warning about Russian state-sponsored cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in collaboration with the National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI, released an advisory warning that Russian cyber actors are exploiting vulnerable networking devices and routers. The advisory highlighted that sectors such as communications, energy, government, and healthcare were being targeted globally. Such high-level alerts about cyber threats often increase investor interest in cybersecurity companies, as they underscore the growing need for advanced security solutions to protect essential services and infrastructure.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Vulnerability Management company Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) jumped 6.6%. Is now the time to buy Qualys? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Endpoint Security company SentinelOne (NYSE: S) jumped 5.9%. Is now the time to buy SentinelOne? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Qualys (QLYS)
Qualys’s shares are quite volatile and have had 18 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock gained 5.6% on the news that Scotiabank upgraded the company firm to Outperform, and JPMorgan raised its rating to Neutral.
Scotiabank set a new price target of $190, arguing Qualys is positioned to benefit as companies increase security spending and push for faster vulnerability fixes. The bank believes this spending is driven by emerging threats. Separately, JPMorgan's upgrade from Underweight was based on expected growth in the vulnerability management sector. The positive analyst sentiment helped push the stock to a 52-week high.
Qualys is up 23.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $162.12 per share, it has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Qualys’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,601.
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