These activist-targeted stocks look risky

Article Excerpt

Prominent activists are helping both these firms transition and adapt to new strategies. The small size of each company could also make it an attractive takeover target. Even so, we feel their risks outweigh the possible rewards. SPLUNK INC. $97 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol SPLK; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 165.6 million; Market cap: $16.1 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.splunk.com) makes software that lets organizations analyze their data in real time. That helps clients quickly identify and response to potential data failures and breaches. In October 2022, activist investor Starboard Value announced that it had acquired about 5% of Splunk. In the past few years, Splunk has shifted from selling its software as a perpetual licence to an ongoing subscription basis. In its fiscal 2024 first quarter, ended April 30, 2023, annual recurring revenue from subscriptions rose 16.0%, to $3.73 billion from $3.21 billion a year earlier. As well, about half of that revenue came from its cloud-based platform. Activist Starboard seems…