Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 20, 2025) - Plurilock Security Inc. (TSXV: PLUR) (OTCQB: PLCKF) and its subsidiary, Plurilock Security Solutions Inc. ("Plurilock" or the "Company"), has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement dated August 20, 2025 (the "APA") with Scope Technologies Corp. (CSE: SCPE) (OTCQB: SCPCF) ("Scope") to sell certain assets of its CloudCodes business (the "Transaction"). Pursuant to the terms of the APA, Scope has agreed to acquire the Company's subsi ...

Core Viewpoint - Plurilock Security Inc. reported significant growth in its Critical Services business, despite a one-time lower-margin order affecting overall margins. The company is well-positioned to capture a meaningful share of the increasing government investment in cybersecurity and defense [2][8]. Financial Highlights - Total revenue for Q2 2025 was CAD 16,404,963, up from CAD 14,305,546 in Q2 2024, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 14.7% [6][12]. - For the six months ended June 30, 2025, total revenue was CAD 35,445,577, compared to CAD 27,140,854 for the same period in 2024, marking a year-over-year increase of about 30.5% [6][12]. - Critical Services revenue increased by 159% year-over-year [5]. - Adjusted EBITDA loss improved by 42% year-over-year, with losses of CAD (1,400,359) in Q2 2025 compared to CAD (2,422,291) in Q2 2024 [5][12]. Operational Highlights - Professional services revenue for Q2 2025 was CAD 4,268,417, significantly up from CAD 1,646,165 in Q2 2024, indicating a strong growth trajectory in this segment [6][12]. - The company is focusing on higher-margin offerings and maintaining a strong liquidity profile, with cash and cash equivalents of CAD 1,739,643 as of June 30, 2025 [10][12]. - Plurilock is expanding into NATO and Middle Eastern defense markets, leveraging its experience with Canadian and U.S. federal clients [9][10]. Strategic Outlook - The company anticipates benefiting from seasonal budget flows and ongoing strategic initiatives in the second half of 2025 [8]. - Plurilock is building a healthy pipeline across enterprise, defense, and public sector markets, aiming for multi-year, recurring contracts [8][9]. - The company is more selective in pursuing federal sales opportunities, reallocating resources to higher-margin Critical Services and commercial opportunities [10].

I mean, as we're seeing record bookings, record number of large new clients, megadeals, we're talking about new cash. Is it all about platform ization is all about the suite of products you're able to offer them a lot of this year. Again, Caroline, and thank you for remembering our platform ization.Yes, it is. I think it is about the problem in the industry. The industry has got too many fragmented players where the customers are left to do the stitching and cybersecurity themselves.And now the pace at whic ...

Core Viewpoint - Palo Alto Networks (PANW) shares are experiencing an upward trend following the company's strong fourth-quarter performance and positive guidance, leading to a generally favorable outlook from Wall Street analysts [1] Analyst Ratings and Price Forecasts - Needham's Mike Cikos reiterated a Buy rating with a price target of $230 [2] - Rosenblatt's Catharine Trebnick maintained a Buy rating and increased her price target from $215 to $225 [2] - WestPark Capital's Casey Ryan kept a Hold rating [2] - Citizens JMP's Trevor Walsh maintained a Market Outperform rating with a price target of $212 [2] - Scotiabank's Patrick Colville continued a Sector Outperform rating and raised the price target from $225 to $228 [2] - Guggenheim's John Difucci reiterated a Sell recommendation but raised the price target from $130 to $135 [3] - Stephens' Todd Weller kept an Equal-Weight rating with a price target of $205 [4] - Wedbush's Daniel Ives reaffirmed an Outperform rating with a price target of $225 [4] - DA Davidson's Rudy Kessinger maintained a Buy rating with a price target of $215 [4] - RBC Capital's Matthew Hedberg reiterated an Outperform rating and raised the price target to $232 [4] - Truist's Junaid Siddiqui maintained a Buy rating and raised the price target from $205 to $220 [5] - BMO Capital's Keith Bachman kept a Buy rating and raised the price target to $225 [5] - Raymond James analyst Adam Tindle reiterated a Hold rating [5] - Piper Sandler's Rob D. Owens maintained an Overweight rating with a price target of $225 [5] - Goldman Sachs' Gabriela Borges reiterated a Buy rating with a price target of $236 [5] - Oppenheimer's Ittai Kidron held his Outperform rating with a price target of $225 [5] Company Performance Insights - Scotiabank's Patrick Colville highlighted strong organic growth, record RPO gains, product momentum, and margin expansion, viewing Palo Alto as a leading long-term cybersecurity story [6] - BMO Capital's Keith Bachman noted fiscal 2026 Next-Generation Security Annual Recurring Revenue growth guidance of 26–27% and pro forma fiscal 2028 Free Cash Flow margins above 40% with CyberArk [7] - Guggenheim's John Difucci acknowledged that Palo Alto's fourth-quarter results were slightly ahead of expectations, with strong RPO, but expressed concerns about RPO duration affecting momentum analysis [8] - Truist's Junaid Siddiqui emphasized that fourth-quarter revenue, RPO, and NGS ARR all exceeded expectations, attributing momentum to SASE, XSIAM, and software firewalls [9] - Rosenblatt's Catharine Trebnick noted fourth-quarter beats across revenue, NGS ARR, and EPS, with fiscal 2026 guidance exceeding expectations, citing platformization strength and CyberArk synergies supporting a 40%+ fiscal 2028 Free Cash Flow margin [10]

Industry Trend - Cybersecurity firms are experiencing a boom time [1]

Group 1 - The investor has a contrarian investment style, focusing on high-risk, illiquid options and shares, with a portfolio split of approximately 50%-50% [1] - The investment strategy involves buying stocks that have recently experienced sell-offs due to non-recurrent events, especially when insiders are purchasing shares at lower prices [1] - Fundamental analysis is employed to assess the health of companies, their leverage, and to compare financial ratios with sector and industry averages [1] Group 2 - Technical analysis is utilized to optimize entry and exit points, primarily using multicolor lines for support and resistance levels on weekly charts [1] - The investor conducts professional background checks on insiders who purchase shares after sell-offs to ensure credibility [1] - The investment timeframe typically ranges from 3 to 24 months, indicating a medium-term investment horizon [1]

Core Insights - SentinelOne (S) shares have decreased by 14% over the past month, underperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector's 3% return and the Zacks Security industry's decline of 12.1%, primarily due to challenging macroeconomic conditions affecting sales cycles and net new ARR growth [1][10][21] Company Performance - Despite recent stock performance, SentinelOne's long-term growth trajectory is supported by its innovative Singularity platform, which offers comprehensive AI-native security solutions across various levels [3][4] - The first quarter of fiscal 2026 saw significant growth in the adoption of AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, with Purple AI achieving triple-digit quarterly bookings growth year-over-year and an attach rate exceeding 25% for subscriptions sold [5][10] - SentinelOne's annualized recurring revenues (ARR) increased by 24% year-over-year to $948.1 million, with large enterprise customers generating over $100K in ARR rising by 22% year-over-year to 1,459 [10][13] Product Innovations - The launch of Purple AI Athena, the first true end-to-end Agentic AI platform for cybersecurity, and the general availability of Singularity Hyperautomation are key innovations driving growth [6][10] - Recent acquisitions, such as the agreement to acquire Prompt Security, are expanding the capabilities of the Singularity platform to secure generative and agentic AI use in enterprises [7] Strategic Partnerships - SentinelOne's expanding partner base, including notable companies like Amazon, CyberArk, Mimecast, and Lenovo, is enhancing platform functionality and attracting more customers [8][12] Financial Outlook - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings is 3 cents per share, indicating a 200% year-over-year increase, with expected revenues of approximately $242 million, reflecting 21.7% year-over-year growth [14][15] Competitive Landscape - The company faces stiff competition in the cybersecurity industry from established players like CrowdStrike and Microsoft, which may impact its market position [16][18]

Core Viewpoint - Palo Alto Networks reported strong Q4 earnings, exceeding Wall Street expectations, and provided optimistic guidance for future growth [1][2][3] Financial Performance - Q4 revenue increased by 16% year over year, reaching $2.54 billion [2] - Adjusted earnings per share for Q4 were $0.95, surpassing the Wall Street target of $0.88 [2] Future Guidance - For the current quarter, Palo Alto Networks forecasts sales between $2.45 billion and $2.47 billion, exceeding consensus expectations of $2.43 billion [3] - The company expects earnings per share in the range of $0.88 to $0.90, above the consensus estimate of $0.85 [3] Strategic Moves - The company is pursuing a $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk Software to enhance its position as a comprehensive cybersecurity provider [5] - Analysts view this consolidation strategy positively, as customers prefer fewer vendors for cybersecurity solutions [6] Industry Context - Cybersecurity is increasingly critical for businesses, with growing sophistication in attacks and integrated systems leading to higher risks [7] - Palo Alto Networks is well-positioned to capitalize on the rising demand for cybersecurity solutions [7]

Core Insights - Fortinet (FTNT) is experiencing strong momentum, with billings growing 15% year-over-year in Q2 to $1.78 billion, following a 13.5% increase in Q1, indicating a robust demand pipeline and positive outlook for future quarters [1][9] - Unified SASE and Security Operations (SecOps) solutions are key contributors to this growth, expanding 21% and 31% year-over-year, respectively, and now accounting for approximately 35% of total billings [2][9] - Management has raised the full-year billings outlook for fiscal 2025 to a range of $7.325-$7.475 billion, reflecting confidence in ongoing demand driven by cloud security and enterprise adoption [3][4][9] Financial Performance - For fiscal 2025, Fortinet's billings guidance suggests a 13.3% growth at the midpoint, supported by strong cloud security demand and a healthy renewal cycle [4] - Services billings increased by 17% year-over-year, marking the strongest growth in six quarters, which enhances the long-term revenue base [3] Competitive Landscape - Fortinet faces significant competition from Palo Alto Networks (PANW), which is enhancing its market position with advanced security solutions, reporting a 34% increase in cloud ARR to $5.09 billion [5] - Check Point Software (CHKP) is also solidifying its position in network security, experiencing double-digit growth in product and license revenues due to strong demand for its solutions [6] Valuation and Market Performance - Year-to-date, Fortinet shares have declined by 14.6%, underperforming the Zacks Security industry's 7.2% gain and the Zacks Computer and Technology sector's 13.7% rise [7] - Fortinet's current Price/Book ratio is 30X, which is higher than the industry average of 20.15X, indicating potential overvaluation [10] - The consensus estimate for fiscal 2025 earnings is $2.51 per share, reflecting a 5.91% year-over-year growth [12]

Core Insights - The cybersecurity market is projected to grow significantly, reaching $351.9 billion by 2030, with Fortinet and Qualys as key players addressing critical security needs [1][2] - Organizations are increasing their security budgets by 15% in 2025 due to escalating cyber threats [2] Fortinet (FTNT) - Fortinet reported a revenue growth of 14% year-over-year to $1.63 billion in Q2 2025, with billings increasing by 15% to $1.78 billion [4] - The company maintains a strong market position with its Security Fabric platform and leadership in network firewalls, but faces challenges in sustaining growth momentum [4][5] - Following its earnings announcement, Fortinet's stock dropped 17% in after-hours trading, indicating investor concerns about future growth despite beating earnings estimates [5] - The guidance for Q3 revenues is between $1.67 billion and $1.73 billion, suggesting a moderation in growth trajectory [5] - The consensus mark for 2025 earnings is $2.51 per share, indicating a 5.91% year-over-year growth [6] Qualys (QLYS) - Qualys demonstrated a 10% revenue growth to $164.1 million in Q2 2025, with 82% GAAP gross margins, showcasing operational efficiency [7] - The launch of the AI-powered Risk Operations Center positions Qualys as a leader in next-generation threat management, with the ability to reduce risk exposure by 85% and accelerate remediation by 70% [7] - Qualys raised its 2025 revenue guidance to $656-662 million, representing 8-9% growth, while maintaining strong profitability metrics [9] - The consensus mark for 2025 earnings is $6.35 per share, indicating a 3.59% year-over-year growth [10] Valuation and Performance Comparison - Fortinet trades at a P/E ratio of 30.18, while Qualys trades at a more attractive P/E ratio of 19.88, indicating better relative value for Qualys [11][8] - Fortinet's stock has dropped over 25% from its 52-week high and is down 14.5% year to date, while Qualys has shown more stability with a decline of 6.8% year to date [14] Conclusion - Qualys is viewed as a more compelling investment opportunity due to its innovative AI-driven platform, superior margins, and attractive valuation [18] - The focus on autonomous risk management positions Qualys for accelerated growth in the face of increasing security threats [18]