Technology
Channel feedback continues to be very positive - identity remains a priority spend and CYBR continues to execute well. SPR has not picked up any hard evidence of customers leaving BeyondTrust over the Treasury Dept breach of compromised API keys. Meanwhile, more channels are confirming increasing instances of Venafi deals in their sales pipelines. This is a change from a quarter ago, when they found interest but less evidence of real sales activity. CYBR’s Zilla acquisition should position the group well to expand into governance and compete with SailPoint and Okta’s OIG solution.
Edition: 209
- 18 April, 2025
Cybersecurity: Potential SEC investigations
Technology
Last October the SEC charged SolarWinds and its chief information security officer with fraud. This report looks at other companies in the cybersecurity industry that may have similar risks to an SEC investigation. Based on Veritas' Freedom of Information Act work, they received confirmations from the SEC pertaining to 15 publicly-listed cybersecurity stocks. Out of the 15 issuers confirmed, 2 attracted SEC scrutiny. Stocks mentioned: Palo Alto, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Zscaler, Cloudflare, Check Point, Okta, Gen Digital, CyberArk, SentinelOne, Qualys, Tenable, Varonis, Rapid7 and SecureWorks.
Edition: 186
- 17 May, 2024
Technology
Feedback from channel contacts on the company's core PAM solution continues to be strong, while CYBR is also the standout beneficiary of the MGM breach. Pipeline generation is healthy. Sales Pulse has heard examples of reps “sitting on deals” to push into the next quarter… always a good sign. Some resellers they talked to shared that CYBR encouraged them to get their SE’s trained and certified on the new CYBR Workforce and Identity offerings, but so far these resellers, have not seen much professional services business based on this investment. Elsewhere, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, Zscaler and Okta all look solid, while Fortinet and Tenable have the softest channel sentiment.
Edition: 171
- 13 October, 2023
Technology
One cannot begin a discussion of OKTA without bringing up the ever-changing definitions of non-GAAP results. The items that are being added back continue to grow and are helping to boost earnings. Despite reporting beats in each of the last three quarters, BTN argues that without some short-lived cuts in expenses OKTA would have missed each one. The company is still unprofitable and FCF negative if it cannot pay employees with stock compensation at >30% of sales. The retention rate is falling due to decreasing upsell rates and a lack of expanding the number of seats, macro headwinds are getting worse and deals are taking longer to close.
Edition: 163
- 23 June, 2023
Advanced AI: Sink or swim time for cybersecurity vendors
Technology
How are AI advancements and hype affecting the cybersecurity industry? What are data security vendors doing with AI/ML and cybersecurity automation, and can they protect their market from the major cloud operators with their investments in AI-driven security for their own platforms? During the interviews conducted by Blueshift, industry sources were also asked how they would play the sector near to mid-term and out over time. Companies discussed include Amazon, CrowdStrike, Cisco, CyberArk, Fortinet, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Okta, Palo Alto and Zscaler.
Edition: 158
- 14 April, 2023
Security software earnings quality comparison
Technology
BTN’s earnings quality comparison on six of the major security software players (Cloudflare, Palo Alto Networks, Okta, Fortinet, Zscaler and CrowdStrike) examines factors such as relative dependence on stock options and policies regarding capitalised software, sales commissions, network depreciation, and aggressiveness of non-GAAP adjustments. The report ranks the company from most to least aggressive.
Edition: 137
- 10 June, 2022
Security channels continue to see strong growth for most vendors
Technology
While channels see security budgets as strong for the rest of the year there is concern that the time required to implement some projects has become extended because of a lack of skilled resources. This may result in delays of add-on orders in 2H. US Fed spending which had seen some delays due to operation under CR (Continuing Resolution) is now back on track. Sales Pulse has also found no evidence that Okta lost accounts following its recent breach, however they did hear of some new deals being delayed. Other stocks featured include CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, SentinelOne and Zscaler.
Edition: 136
- 27 May, 2022