Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing segments of IT spending. Chief information officers consistently rank cybersecurity as their top spending priority. Damages from cybercrime could cost the world $6 trillion this year, prompting individuals, companies, and governments to spend a bundle with cybersecurity firms to provide sophisticated software and services to protect proprietary data.
Cybersecurity is a powerful theme that will be further fueled by the growth of new technologies that offer connectivity to data, such as machine learning, cloud computing, and the internet of things (IoT). You should definitely consider adding some cyber stocks to your portfolio. Here are five ideas that you can take action on right now.
5 Cyber Stocks and ETFs to Consider
You could begin with the Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG), a basket of cybersecurity stocks of companies developing and managing security protocols to prevent intrusion and attacks on systems, networks, applications, computers and mobile devices. This ETF has 29 holdings and the top 10 stocks represent roughly 60% of the total market value of the basket. Seventy-four percent of the companies are incorporated in America, followed by 13% in Israel and 8% in Japan.
The best value cyber stock may be Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP), which develops and builds both software and hardware products for information technology (IT) security. The company offers network and gateway security services, data and endpoint security services, and management solutions.
Two fast-growing companies and momentum stocks are Zscaler Inc. (ZS) and CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (CRWD). Both have had a very good run since March 2020 so I would be more aggressive on pullbacks.
Zscaler provides security software and a cloud-based web and mobile security platform that also addresses threat protection, cloud application visibility, and networking challenges.
CrowdStrike Holdings, founded in 2011, offers a cybersecurity platform that provides a range of products including antivirus, endpoint detection and response, device control, risk management, and threat intelligence. The company primarily sells its platform and cloud modules through its direct sales team.
Finally, I like a fairly new cybersecurity stock with lots of upside: Dynatrace (DT). This is a cloud software firm that was restructured and then re-launched through a 2019 IPO. Dynatrace’s software intelligence platform for enterprise cloud applications provides much-needed automation. The company’s revenue has been increasing at a 30% clip with positive cash flow and profitability. Its future looks bright, as it is still a small player in an absolutely huge cloud industry, spending more than $200 billion each year.
My advice for 2021 is to put some cyber in your portfolio, as the digital economy will grow exponentially from here.