The valuations of cybersecurity companies are facing increasing scrutiny as analysts on Wall Street express doubts about the impact of potential IT spending restrictions. Among the companies identified by analysts as being vulnerable to worsening sentiment in the sector are Cloudflare and Palo Alto Networks.
Guggenheim analyst John DiFucci recently downgraded his rating on Cloudflare (ticker: NET) from Neutral to Sell. In a research note, he introduced a target price of $50 for the stock. Cloudflare shares experienced a decline of 3.3% in premarket trading on Monday, following a nearly 7% increase last week prompted by its second-quarter earnings report.
DiFucci expressed skepticism regarding Cloudflare’s long-term revenue target of $5 billion for 2027, particularly in light of current concerns surrounding cybersecurity spending. He also highlighted that Cloudflare is currently trading at an enterprise value that is more than 16 times its projected recurring revenue.
According to DiFucci, achieving the stated revenue target would necessitate greater than 50% growth in annual recurring revenue in every quarter after 2023, a scenario he deems unlikely regardless of the macro environment.
Similarly, other previously bullish analysts are now adopting a more cautious stance towards certain companies. Wedbush Research removed Palo Alto (PANW) from its Best Ideas list after a warning about slowing deals from peer company Fortinet affected Palo Alto’s stock. This trend also impacted other cybersecurity firms such as Zscaler (ZS) and CrowdStrike (CRWD).
Wedbush’s analysts stated that they believe the near-term upside potential for Palo Alto is limited due to concerns surrounding growth in the cybersecurity sector, which is currently weighing on the company’s performance.
In addition to macroeconomic concerns, the sector is grappling with the impact of Microsoft’s announcement in July to enter the network edge security space, an area in which Palo Alto and Zscaler have been strong players. This development caused a decline in the stock prices of several cybersecurity companies.
Palo Alto’s shares experienced a 1.4% increase in premarket trading, attempting to recover from the 8% decrease recorded last Friday.
