Amid the broad market sell-off, the cyber security industry appears well poised on higher IT spending budgets, increased cybercrimes and better-than-expected earnings for the July-September quarter. Most of the cyber security firms beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for both earnings and revenues and offered robust guidance.
Let’s check out the earnings of some of the cyber security firms that have the largest allocation to the ETFs in this niche area of the technology sector:
Cyber Security Earnings in Focus
Akamai Technologies (AKAM – Free Report) reported third-quarter 2018 earnings per share of 68 cents and revenues of $670 million, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents and $663 million, respectively. On year-over-year basis, earnings surged 51.6% while revenues were up 7%. For the fourth quarter, the company projects revenues in the range of $692-$709 million and earnings between 97 cents and $1.03 per share. It slightly narrowed the revenue guidance from $2.68-$2.71 billion to $2.693-$2.71 for the full year while raised earnings per share projection to $3.53-$3.59 from $3.26-$3.38.
CyberArk Software (CYBR – Free Report) outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23 cents for earnings and $6 million for revenues. Earnings per share shot up 228% from the year-ago quarter while revenues jumped 31%. The company expects earnings per share of 58.60 cents on revenues of $94.75-$96.25 million, representing 18-20% year-over-year growth for the fourth quarter. Like its peers, CyberArk also raised estimates for the full year with revenues expected in the range of $328.9-$330.4 million and earnings per share in the range of $1.75-$1.77. This is much higher than the previous projection of $320-$324 million for revenues and $1.43-$1.50 for earnings per share.
Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP – Free Report) posted earnings per share of $1.38 and revenues of $471 million, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.36 and $466 million, respectively. On year-over-year basis, earnings grew 6% while revenues were up 4%. For the fourth quarter of 2018, the company expects earnings per share in the range of $1.56-$1.67 and revenues in the $500-$528 million range.
