With cyber security stocks growing red hot, FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) is emerging as the leading Cyber Security stock. While the public is growing aware of the great potential that the cyber security sector holds for outperformance above and beyond the stock market indexes, a consensus is growing among Wall Street analysts that FireEye is the leading company in this hot sector. Often, the leading company in a hot sector is the one that has the greatest stock price gains over time, such as computer sector leader Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and social networking leader Facebook (NYSE: FB). It is well worth the effort to develop an understanding regarding what FireEye does and where the company is heading.
FireEye is in the business of developing and providing computer network protection products and services that protect computer networks and databases from hacking attacks, intrusions, and malware. The company’s cyber security products detect, prevent, and resolve cyber attacks.
Why FireEye Is The Leading Cyber Security Stock
FireEye’s advanced and comprehensive computer security products are what make it the leading Cyber Security stock. The company provides a broad array of products that network security teams can use to detect and fight off a cyber attack.
Some of the most useful and popular products FireEye offers are security management products that include a Central Management System that reports on cross-enterprise threat information to identify and block cyber attacks on a network and a Threat Analytics Platform, which enables computer security teams to identify and respond to cyber attacks by analyzing real-time information about network security and impacts from hackers. The company also provides a product called the Forensic Analysis System that allows computer security teams to inspect malware attached or embedded in files, emails and other programs running on a network. This product is not only useful in preventing cyber attacks, but it also helps diminish or repel a cyber attack that is in progress by denying access to a computer network from files used by hackers. Once an attack has been successfully repelled, FireEye’s Network Forensics Platform can be used by cyber security experts to identify the source of the cyber attack, so that measures can be taken to prevent another attack from the same source.
The company’s clients include both public and private entities. While there are many cyber security companies in the cyber security space, FireEye is emerging as the go to company when governments and businesses are ready to take computer security seriously and take steps to protect their computer networks and databases from hackers. FireEye recently cemented its lead in the cyber security space with an announcement that the company is partnering with the world-renowned credit card company Visa (NYSE:V) to implement tools and provide services to prevent against attacks on Visa’s consumer payment data from its tens of millions of world-wide customers. It is high profile deals like the one with Visa that is causing FireEye to pull ahead of the pack of cyber security firms.
Why Wall Street Is Excited About FireEye
Wall Street likes FireEye because the company has experienced explosive growth, with no sign that the growth will slow down any time soon. The company has gone from revenue of $83 million during 2012 to revenue that topped $425 million during 2014, which is an over 400% gain in just two years. It is not easy to find a technology company that is growing that quickly and has excellent growth prospects going forward. Every bad headline about a new cyber security breach is good news for companies such as FireEye.
The stock has gone from the $30 per share range to the $50 per share range over the past two years, a more than 60% gain. While that sort of gain is impressive, it is not overwhelming. FEYE is not trading at nose-bleed levels. Given the company’s high growth rate and the interest in the cyber security sector, it could reasonably be expected to rally much higher.
While the company has yet to turn a profit, is has the revenue growth rate and the potential for future profits that makes Wall Street analysts excited. The fact that FireEye is in such a hot sector with such a high growth rate also makes the company a prime buyout target for large established technology companies looking to buy into the next wave of fast technology growth. Recently, networking giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) has been rumored to be a potential suitor for FireEye. But Cisco is certainly not the only potential suitor for this company that is the leading cyber security stock.
