Yahoo Finance Darktrace shares soar as firm profits from Russia cyber attack fears
Shares in tech firm Darktrace (DARK.L) soared on Thursday after the company reported a jump in profits amid strong cyber demand and raised its 2022 outlook.
The British cybersecurity group raised its full-year revenue and margin guidance for the second time in three months, reflecting strong customer growth and retention.
Revenues at the FTSE 250 (^FTMC) company jumped 52.3% to $192.6m (£144m) versus the same period in 2020. This was driven by a 39.6% year-on-year growth in customer base. The company added 1854 new customers, 926 of which were snapped up in the first six months of 2022.
In its half year results, it says it now expects a year-on-year increase in constant currency annual recurring revenue (ARR) this year of between 38.5% and 40%, compared to previous guidance of 37% to 38.5%.
CEO Poppy Gustafsson said that the current geopolitical situation has "heightened the urgency for businesses and governments to improve cyber resilience", adding that the company is "laser-focussed" to protect organisations around the world from cyber-attacks.
Darktrace also hiked its expectation for annual adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin to between 10% and 12%, up from 3% to 6% previously. Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $46.7m in the six months to 31 December.
Darktrace shares rose 16.3% to 535.45p on the news.
The group's lates forecast incorporates the impact of its recent acquisition of Cybersprint.
Last month, the tech company bought Dutch rival Cybersprint for €47.5m ($52.6m, £39.3m).
Cybersprint is an attack surface management firm that provides real-time insights to eliminate blind spots and detect risks.
"While Darktrace has historically built an 'inside-out' understanding of an organisation's digital infrastructure, Cybersprint's 'outside-in' technology identifies online and internet-facing assets related to an organisation's brand," Gustafsson added. The combination of Darktrace's internal and Cybersprint's external views will allow us to provide customers with an even more comprehensive understanding of threats to their overall digital environment."
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Darktrace also clinched a multi-million-dollar contract recently with one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, which has been using its self-learning AI to protect from cyberattacks.
Self-learning AI does not rely on historical data, it instead constantly builds on new information and is equipped to spot and stop new attacks, whether they are insider threats or advanced, nation-state-led attempts to compromise data.
Darktrace made its London debut in May last year. The company’s initial public offering valued it at £1.7bn, which equated to 250p a share. Shares have since jumped to 535.45p, a rise of 114.2%.
The company was founded in Cambridge in 2013. It uses its AI to build what it calls an "enterprise immune system" that monitors a company's computer networks to detect unusual activity and then respond to it. The technology stands in contrast to traditional cyber security software that tries to build a wall around networks to block intruders. Some of its clients include BT Group (BT-A.L), and online grocer Ocado (OCDO.L).
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