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The world is more connected than ever. It turns out, during times of war, connectivity can be a bad thing. This is how investors can profit.
The Biden Administration announced last week that the Federal Communication Commission will seek rules mandating minimum cybersecurity standards for infrastructure firms.
It will lead to a gold rush in sales for CrowdStrike
The move by the Feds should not come as a surprise. The war in Ukraine and the Russian’s close ties with some of the world’s most renowned hacking groups is a wakeup call.
Days before Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine, a major connectivity outage hit at Viasat Inc. (VSAT). The Carlsbad, Calif.-based company is a leading provider of high-speed satellite broadband and secure networking for military and commercial customers worldwide.
In this case, the Viasat modems that control thousands of wind European wind turbines mysteriously went offline. The outage dramatically impacted the Ukrainian military as generals prepared for the Russian invasion. Reuters later reported that the outage was sabotage. The suspect was obvious.
The Biden Administration is planning stronger oversight for organizations that provide key infrastructure services. And to make certain that minimum standards are followed, the new regulatory framework will follow precedents set by the Clean Air Act of the Food and Drug Administration, according to a story the MIT Technology Review.
A new filing at the FCC is seeking input from industry on the Border Gateway Protocol, the backbone of the internet’s global routing system. It is the start of greater regulation, and a lot of new public funding for cybersecurity.
CrowdStrike has been riding the cyberthreat tailwind since 2011, when it was founded. The fast-growing Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company provides cybersecurity to 15 of the 20 largest banks, and 77 of the Fortune 100. Those private sector clients are especially worried about new threats in the aftermath of the Ukrainian invasion.
State sponsored hacking groups out of Russia, China, and North Korea are using sophisticated tools to embed malware deep inside of the biggest networks. In many cases, malicious code can go undetected for months, infecting millions of computers.
The Colonial pipeline was devastated in May 2021 by cyber terrorists. The 5,500-mile pipeline transports 100 million barrels per day of gasoline and other fuel products to the eastern United States. Attackers distributed malware through email, then demanded a ransom to restore services. Gasoline futures by spiked 3% and have remained above trend since that time, according to a report from Reuters.
Two months later Jennifer Granholm, the Energy Secretary said that bad actors gained the ability to shut down the U.S. power grid.
CrowdStrike’s cloud-based software collects threat data across all of the connected devices, analyses the information using artificial intelligence, then seamlessly updates all endpoints.
The company reported on March 9 that fourth quarter sales grew to $431 million, up 63% year-over-year. Annualized recurring revenues surged 65%, to 1.7 billion. And George Kurtz, chief executive officer said that the company added $217 million of net new annualized sales during the quarter. Next year Kurtz believes sales will move to the $2.1 billion range, up from $1.7 billion reported in 2021.
All of these gains do not consider new FCC cybersecurity guidelines for communication infrastructure companies like Viasat and the telecommunications companies.
The world is a dangerous place. Some businesses are uniquely positioned to benefit. Defense contractors build missile defense systems, armaments and fighter jets, the implements of kinetic war. Other firms, such as CrowdStrike, are constructing a different kind of defense apparatus. It’s equally important.
At a price of $208, CrowdStrike shares trade at 133.6x forward earnings. That number may seem frothy, yet the company is early into its profitability stage. With gross margins of 73.6%, there is plenty of room for explosive earnings growth going forward.
Shares traded in November at $300. A test of that level is definitely possible within the next 12 months, representing a 50% gain from current levels.
Longer-term investors should consider buying pullbacks.
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