If you want to earn healthy returns from your stock investments in the long run, considering cybersecurity stocks could be a wise move in 2024. In the post-pandemic era, a large number of businesses are investing in their online presence and operations to support higher growth. These businesses will need software solutions to protect their data from cyberattacks in the coming years — creating demand for quality cybersecurity solutions and helping cybersecurity firms boost their profitability.
Although the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties might keep the share prices of cybersecurity firms volatile in the near term, prospects of a significant rise in demand strengthen their long-term outlook. This is one of the key reasons I expect cybersecurity stocks to outperform the broader market by a wide margin in the long run. In this article, I’ll highlight two top cybersecurity stocks I find really attractive to buy in February 2024.
Fortinet stock
Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) is a California-based tech firm with a market cap of US$54.4 billion as its NASDAQ-listed stock trades at $70.88 per share. After rallying by nearly 20% in 2023, its share prices have extended these gains by more than 21% in 2024 so far. The company primarily focuses on developing and selling several cybersecurity and networking solutions globally. Some of its largest geographical markets include Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and Asia-Pacific.
Earlier this month, on February 6, Fortinet announced its upbeat fourth-quarter results. During the December quarter, the company’s total revenue rose 10.3% YoY (year over year) to US$1.4 billion. Despite a minor decline in product sales, its stronger service segment sales growth in the company’s adjusted quarterly earnings increased by 15.9% YoY US$0.51 per share. As a result, the company’s full-year 2023 sales advanced by 20.1% from a year ago to US$5.3 billion, while its adjusted earnings jumped around 37% to US$1.63 per share.
Even as macroeconomic concerns continue to haunt many tech businesses, its management expects Fortinet to continue delivering positive revenue growth in 2024. Its full-year 2024 revenue is projected to be between $5.715 billion and $5.815 billion, aiming for service revenue between $3.920 billion and $3.970 billion. You can expect Fortinet to continue posting strong results in the long run as the demand for its cybersecurity products and services continues to increase.
BlackBerry stock
BlackBerry (TSX:BB) could be another attractive cybersecurity stock to consider right now, especially if you’re looking for a fundamentally strong stock for the long term that you can buy at a bargain in February 2024. This Waterloo-headquartered company currently has a market cap of $2.2 billion as its stock trades at $3.78 per share after witnessing about 33% value erosion in the last year.
Notably, BlackBerry currently makes most of its revenue, or more than 60%, from its cybersecurity segment, while the remaining comes from its IoT (Internet of Things) and other segments. Although the sales growth of its enterprise cybersecurity solutions has slowed in recent quarters, the segment’s long-term growth outlook remains strong as the company utilizes the latest machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to make its cybersecurity offerings more advanced and appealing to customers. Considering that, the recent dip in BB stock could be an opportunity for long-term investors to buy it now and hold it for years to come.
