I've upgraded McAffee (MFE), the security software company, to buy from hold. A hold rating had been issued on November 13, 2009, after McAfee's stock chart formed a short-term double-top at $46.

However, McAfee's chart is now showing signs that it will hold support at or near $37, hence the upgrade to buy.

Continue reading McAfee: Upgraded to Buy

McAfee: Upgraded to Buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Applied Signal Technology is ignoring the recession

Applied Signal Technology is ignoring the recession originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While the tough economy is pressuring information technology (IT) spending, there are still some growth areas. An example is security. Basically, it is a must-have technology - for essentially any environment.

And, one of the beneficiaries in the space is Sourcefire, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE). The company leverages an open source model --- for intrusion protection -- that has gained lots of traction over the past few years. Just take a look at its Q4 results.

Total revenues increased 33% to $25.7 million (full-year revenues were up 35% to $75.7 million). Earnings came to $2.3 million, or 8 cents per share. This compares to $800,000 or 3 cents per share in the same period a year ago.

Continue reading Sourcefire (FIRE) is still lighting things up

Sourcefire (FIRE) is still lighting things up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For companies like Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) and McAfee (NYSE: MFE), the antivirus software industry is quite lucrative - and still growing quite nicely. So, it should be no surprise that competitors want a piece of the action.

One of the latest entrants: Haute Secure. Basically, the company has a plugin that blocks dangerous websites (which may have malware, phishing and so on).

More importantly, the service is free. Although, there are some exceptions (there is a paid service for business customers).

I had a chance to interview Nick Selby, who is the director of research operations of the enterprise security practice at The 451 Group. According to him:

"As drive-by downloads and malicious code appears on increasing numbers of websites, these kinds of technologies are proliferating. Companies such as Grisoft (formerly AVG) recently acquired Exploit Prevention Labs, which works in a similar fashion, for what we reckon was under $10m, and others, such as Finjan, McAfee and Symantec are pushing their entries in this space. Another UK-based start-ip, Prevyx, shares malware information with its global network of users to identify and block malicious code from running on protected machines."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Haute Secure: free antivirus software? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today's headlines that IBM (NYSE: IBM) is looking at beefing up its security offerings raises the question if management would acquire Israel-based Check Point Software (NASDAQ: CHKP). Val Rahmani, IBM's general manager of infrastructure management for global technology services, sees security as a key to growth. Val said, "We're looking at a lot of different companies right now, as we always do in a number of different spaces within security."

Until now, the thought on the Street was that Check Point was going to continue as a stand-alone company, but with IBM on the prowl, it may be too much for CEO Gil Schwed to resist. Check Point currently trades at a market cap of $5.53 billion, and an acquisition would certainly come with a much higher price tag. Based on valuation, it would take between $7-8 billion to buy the company. For deep-pocketed IBM, that's not too high a price. For Schwed, a takeover at that price would be tough to reject, and it would break all records for M&A of an Israeli company.

Based on IBM's track record, I would doubt that it is going to try to grow its own security business organically; rather, it will most probably purchase a serious player. Stay tuned to see if that player will be Check Point.

Disclosure: Writer holds a position in CHKP. He has no other position in any stock mentioned as of 11/2/07.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com.

Will IBM check out Check Point? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google strikes again: $625 million for Postini originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.