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Mandiant (MNDT) Stock Rallies 16% on Google Takeover Report

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Mandiant stock jumped 16% on Monday after subscription-based tech sector news website The Information reported that Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google is in talks to buy the cybersecurity firm.

Per a reliable source, The Information stated that Google is looking to beef up its cloud security capabilities and bolster its cloud computing business in a bid to better compete against Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) .

Mandiant’s security platforms simplify security infrastructure for organizations by protecting against, detecting and responding to cyber-attacks before the security of vital systems is compromised. Therefore, its takeover will primarily boost Alphabet’s wholly-owned subsidiary Google‘s cybersecurity portfolio.

The latest report of The Information comes a month after Bloomberg declared that Microsoft is holding talks to acquire the treat intelligence company. However, Bloomberg on Monday stated that Microsoft pulled out of those discussions as it believes, Mandiant’s security portfolio isn’t strategically fit.

In the post pandemic era, cybersecurity became a mission-critical, high-profile requirement, given the growing exposure to sophisticated cyber threats. It is noteworthy that Mandiant’s FireEye had discovered SolarWinds’ breach a year ago. MDNT has been making a significant progress ever since by capitalizing on growing demand for cybersecurity on the back of its powerful Advantage Software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.

The cybersecurity solution provider will provide intelligence-based cybersecurity solutions and services, thus allowing Google to prepare for, investigate, prevent, respond to and remediate cyberattacks across cloud infrastructure. This, in turn, will expand Google’s tool base for customer protection from cybersecurity attacks.

Per the latest Mordor Intelligence report, the global cybersecurity market size is projected to reach $352.25 billion by 2026, witnessing a CAGR of 14.5% during the 2021-2026 period. Growing demand for cybersecurity owing to the slew of data violations seems a positive for Mandiant.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

Mandiant, Alphabet and Microsoft currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. MNDT has jumped 17.9% in the past year, while GOOGL and MSFT rallied 25.9% and 22.6%, respectively.

A better-ranked stock from the broader computer and technology sector is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) , currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMD’s first-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings has been revised 23 cents  upward to 91 cents per share over the past 60 days. For fiscal 2022, earnings estimates have moved 2 cents south to $3.99 per share in the past 30 days.

AMD’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, the average being 17%. Shares of AMD have gained 42.8% in the past year.

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