This cybersecurity stock is already growing revenue at a 20% clip. And now here comes the AI boost
We recently initiated a new position in SentinelOne at around $23 a share in our growth and income Portfolio. We already own a full position in Palo Alto Networks, but we wanted to increase our exposure to cybersecurity. The California-based cybersecurity company uses AI and automation to detect and respond to cyber threats. SentinelOne built its reputation around endpoint security, protecting computers and other devices from cyberattacks, but its platform has increasingly expanded into cloud, identity, data and AI security. Key points SentinelOne is still growing at a healthy pace, with revenue up 21% and annual recurring revenue up 22%. Non-GAAP operating margin improved to 10% from 2% a year ago. The company is expanding beyond endpoint security. What attracted me is the combination of continued 20%-plus growth, expanding platform adoption and a significant improvement in profitability. That’s the financial inflection we’re interested in. SentinelOne has already shown it can grow. Now we’re beginning to see evidence that growth can turn into a sustainably profitable business. Why I’m buying The business is still growing at a 20%-plus pace The first thing I want to emphasize is that SentinelOne isn’t sacrificing growth to manufacture profitability. Revenue increased 21% in its fiscal second quarter to $292 million, while ARR, or annual recurring revenue, rose 22% to $1.218 billion. The company also had 1,715 customers generating at least $100,000 of ARR, up 13% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per share doubled to 8 cents from 4 cents, and management raised its full-year revenue and operating-income outlook. So the top line is still growing above 20%, even as the financial profile of the business improves. Growth is translating into profits SentinelOne’s non-GAAP operating margin increased to 10% from 2% a year earlier. That’s an eight-percentage-point improvement while revenue grew 21%. For me, that’s the big transition. We’re starting to see the operating leverage we’re looking for as the business scales. S YTD mountain SentinelOne, YTD It’s becoming more than an endpoint-security company SentinelOne is moving beyond endpoint security into cloud, identity, data and AI security. Earlier this year, the company said its emerging solutions had grown to roughly half of total ARR, giving it more products to sell to existing customers and a larger addressable market. AI adds to that opportunity. As attackers use AI to make cyberattacks faster and more sophisticated, defenders increasingly need AI and automation to respond at machine speed. We’re also seeing SentinelOne broaden its capabilities across different parts of cybersecurity. In September, the company extended its Wayfinder Threat Hunting service across Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, covering endpoints, identities and cloud environments. Here’s the pro tip: Don’t just chase the AI story. Look for a business model inflection. That’s what we see as SentinelOne evolves into a broader cybersecurity platform. Why now? The stock has moved higher since we initiated our position, trading around $25 a share, roughly $2 above our purchase price. But what I’m really focused on is whether this financial inflection can continue as the company scales. There are things we’re watching closely. Non-GAAP gross margin slipped to 77% from 79% a year ago, so not every profitability metric is moving in the same direction. We want to see healthy revenue and ARR growth and continued adoption of products beyond endpoint security. Bottom line Investors don’t have to choose between growth and profitability. With technology companies that have already demonstrated strong top-line growth, one of the most important things to watch is what happens to the incremental dollar of revenue as the company scales. Kevin Simpson is the founder and CEO of Capital Wealth Planning. 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