Honda's (HMC) Global Operations Disrupted by Cyber-Attack

HMC TSLA HLFDY NIU

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC - Free Report) was hit by a cyber-attack on Monday that disrupted its business in several countries. However, the company expects to contain the overall impact at the earliest. The virus affecting Honda is reportedly part of the SNAKE ransomware family, which targets an entire network instead of individual workstations.

Honda was forced to send some employees home for the day, as e-mails and other systems in plants around the world were affected by the attack. Nevertheless, the firm stated there was no data breach due to the cyber-attack. It is working to restore full functionality of production, sales and development activities in order to reduce the impact of the attack.

Honda was forced to halt global production for a day since the cyber-attack breached the company's internal servers in Japan and through several U.S. factories. While most of the work has been resumed, car plants in Ohio and Turkey, and motorcycle factories in Brazil and India remain closed.

In addition, production at Honda’s U.K. plant had been halted due to the coronavirus outbreak and the latest attack is unlikely to change its plans to restart activities this week. Honda, which manufactures its iconic Civic model at the site, will permanently close the U.K. plant next year, with loss of about 3,500 jobs in the middle of a restructuring that aims to adjust its operations to reflect greater demand in Asia and North America. The attack might also have affected a vehicle-inspection system. Nonetheless, no information about customers or employees appears to have been exposed at this point due to the cyber-attack.

In 2017, Honda was hit by a similar cyber-attack, when the WannaCry ransomware forced the company to stop production. In the years since, Honda is said to have strengthened its cyber-security defences. Although the cyber-attack appears to have targeted the company’s internal servers, there is a growing concern that the automotive industry needs improved safety now that so many cars are connected on the network.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Honda currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Shares of Honda have depreciated 1.8%, year to date, compared with the industry’s decline of 7.7%.

 

Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector are Tesla, Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) , Halfords Group Plc (HLFDY - Free Report) and Niu Technologies (NIU - Free Report) . While Tesla sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), Halfords and Niu carry a Zack Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Tesla have surged 124.9%, year to date, as against the industry’s rise of 41.2%.

Shares of Halfords have rallied 14.3%, year to date, as against its industry’s decline of 6.3%.

Shares of Niu have gained 38.2%, year to date, as against the industry’s decline of 6.4%.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>

Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.

This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>