RE: Darktrace not looking to sell up or sell out24 Aug 2022 12:40
Clued not sure what Times link you are mentioning. But if it is todays
Darktrace sees bright light at the end of the tunnel
Emma Powell
Wednesday August 24 2022, 12.01am, The Times
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Darktrace has been struggling to win back investors, battling questions around the shape of its cost base and links to former Autonomy boss Mike Lynch, who is fighting extradition to the US to face charges for allegedly fraudulently inflating the software group’s value. But a weak valuation, high revenue growth and vast potential customer base means there is plenty to invite a bidding war.
News of an approach from tech-focused buyout group Thoma Bravo last week sent shares in the cybersecurity specialist up 24 per cent on the day. Even if a firm bid is no higher than the £3.7 billion market value currently attached to Darktrace, investors that bought in at the cut-price IPO should be happy enough, having doubled their money in less than 18 months.
Based upon forecast sales, Darktrace is still valued far below both last year’s peak and US peers such as CrowdStrike Holdings, with an enterprise value of just over seven times forecast sales. There is some justification for that valuation, stained with misgivings, which either a US tech investment group or rival with deep pockets could wipe clean.
Links with Lynch, who helped to establish Darktrace but has no management role, have cast a shadow over the group’s rating. He still owns 4.3 per cent, while his wife, Angela Bacares, has almost 8 per cent. Taking the group private would remove this connection, a factor of which bidders would be well aware.
The need for cybersecurity has been thrown into sharper focus by the geopolitical turmoil this year. Shares in Darktrace rose 43 per cent during the week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Annual recurring revenue rose 42 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June, ahead of analyst expectations, and guidance for this year is similarly punchy at 31 to 34 per cent.
Darktrace seeks to differentiate itself from other providers through its use of artificial intelligence. Rather than trying to merely stop attackers breaching IT systems, it uses machine learning to detect unusual activity and autonomously fight back against any attacks.
Yet some analysts question the shape of Darktrace’s business. Irish brokerage Davy points to high marketing and sales costs, which equated to 45 per cent of revenue during the first half of the year. Roughly 65 per cent of sales come from direct sales. Davy argues that a closer tie with sales headcount could constrain sales growth and forecasts a compound annual sales growth rate of about 30 per cent for Darktrace from last year to 2024. But that compares with more than 70 per cent for American peer SentinelOne.