Special Situation: Carbon Black IPO

Article Excerpt

CARBON BLACK INC. $24 (New York symbol CBLK; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 65.8 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.carbonblack.com) sells computer-security software, mainly as a cloud-based service. It also uses analytics software to predict future cyberattacks and prevent them. Over 3,800 businesses use the company’s products. On May 4, 2018, Carbon Black completed an initial public offering (IPO) of 8 million common shares at $19.00 each. Underwriters hold options to purchase up to 1.2 million additional shares. The stock is now 26% above the IPO price. However, the company faces strong competition from larger, more-established computer security firms such as Symantec and VMware. Its revenue growth has also slowed in each of the past four quarters. We don’t recommend Carbon Black. Black…