Hybridan Research: Sector Review: Artificial intelligence in UK cybersecurity: the human uplift 17/04/2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a double-edged sword in cybersecurity. Whilst new AI models, architectures, and innovations are emerging to protect the security posture of organisations, attackers are also benefiting from deepfakes, sophisticated phishing, and automation of malicious codes. To ensure the impact of AI on cybersecurity to be a net-positive, we need to pit good AI against bad AI. Point solutions enhanced with machine learning: Global cybersecurity has been built with point soluti

Small Cap Feast

Intention to float by Gemfields Group. No Capital Raise. Currently listed on JSE. (GML:JNB) at circa £122m. The Group's key producing assets, the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia (believed to be the world's single largest producing emerald mine) and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique (one of the most significant recently discovered ruby deposits in the world), are both expected to have long mine-lives with potential for expansion. Also owns the Faberge brand. Due Valentines Day 2020.

More Netflix originals; Avast hacked; Apple manufacturing in India

Netflix is raising another US$2 billion in debt to fund additional content creation and other expenses, the company announced on Monday. The company routinely raises debt to help fuel its growing library of original TV shows and movies. The streaming giant offered US$2 billion in new debt in April after issuing another round of notes several months earlier. Netflix said it plans to use the proceeds to fund "Content acquisitions, production and development, capital expenditures, investments, work

Cloudflare prices above range; Virtual wall maker new unicorn; High speed 5G gaming

Cloudflare, a California-based digital content delivery and Internet security company, raised its IPO price range this morning from a prior $10 to $12 interval to $12 to $14 per share. At its new prices, Cloudflare would be valued between $3.5 billion and $4.1 billion. Cloudflare's maximum IPO fund raise is now $563.5 million. Investors’ appetite for cloud offerings appears to remain robust. Ex- Oculus founder, Palmer Luckey’s new business, Anduril Industries, is building a virtual wall on the s

Brevan Howard plans crypto fund, Google discovers 2-YR iPhone security flaws

Alan Howard’s push into crypto is a badly kept secret that appears to be crystallising into reality. In our view, the crypto space has undergone a very interesting transition from rampant retail speculation to, well, rampant retail speculation underpinned by a broad base of institutional interest. Google search volumes have fallen, transaction sizes appear to be escalating and the latest wave of equipment upgrades suggest consumer interest and potential to participate is now very low. Meanwhile,

VMware spends $5bn on cloud security, Salesforce provides strong outlook, Amazon acquires Indian supermarket chain

VMware said on Thursday it bought two providers of cloud security and cloud developer services in separate deals valued at about $5 billion, as it expands offerings for corporate clients. VMware bought Pivotal Software Inc in a $2.7 billion deal. Separately, VMware said it would buy software maker Carbon Black Inc for about $2 billion in cash.

Tencent drops after weak guidance, SoftBank makes energy investment, Security software leaks 1m fingerprints

Tencent shares slumped as much as 3.88% on Thursday after the Chinese technology giant missed analyst expectations, despite beating forecast on earnings. Revenue rose 21% year-on-year to 88.82 billion yuan. Profit attributable to shareholders beat analyst forecasts, rising 35% year-on-year to 24.14 billion yuan. The company's gaming division returned to growth, posting revenue of 27.3 billion yuan, up 8% year-on-year, with mobile games performing particularly well.

BA resumes services after IT meltdown, AT&T employees took bribes to install malware, Nike announces AI acquisition

British Airways said its flights were returning to normal after passengers had to endure cancellations, delays and long queues at London airports as the airline suffered its third major computer failure in a little more than two years. More than 60 flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick were cancelled and more than 100 were delayed, according to the departure boards at the two airports.

Capital One confirms data breach, Qualcomm & Tencent partner for gaming phone, Microsoft acquires software start-up

Capital One announced on Monday that a data breach identified earlier this month exposed personal information of its customers, including social security details and bank account numbers. The Virginia-headquartered bank said in a news release that about 140,000 Social Security numbers of its credit card customers and around 80,000 linked bank account numbers were compromised. In total, Capital One said, "This event affected approximately 100 million individuals in the United States and approxima

Facebook to use Libra to become utility, Slack not worried about Microsoft, Symantec ends talks with Broadcom

The Senate Banking Committee on Monday released the testimony of David Marcus, the head of Facebook's cryptocurrency projects ahead of his testimony Tuesday. In his prepared remarks, Marcus perfectly outlines the business model behind the social network’s upcoming Libra digital currency and its Calibra digital wallet. Microsoft might be the primary competitor for Slack, but the widespread adoption of Microsoft's software is not a major problem for Stewart Butterfield, co-founder and CEO of the m

Australian banks to digitize bank guarantees, US Gov reviewing license requests for Huawei, Broadcom to acquire Symantec

Australia's top three banks said on Thursday they have agreed to partner with IBM and shopping mall owner Scentre Group to test blockchain technology to digitize bank guarantees. The companies are exploring how to move away from paper-based bank guarantees to cut processing time and the risk of fraud, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corp and Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a statement. The US government said on Wednesday it was reviewing licence requests from US c

Arden Tech SoundBytes - US officials told to treat Huawei as blacklisted, Cyber-Incident Reports in the UK Spiked by 1,000% In 2018

Eleco - FY23 recurring revenue growth of +22%, EBITDA +2% ahead

Eleco’s FY23 results show robust organic recurring revenue growth of +17% with recurring revenue +22% to £20.7m, adj EBITDA +2% ahead of the January update, and a confident outlook with Q1 ARR already at £24.5m vs £22.6m at FY23. At this point, the excellent start to FY24 leads us to reiterate our FY24-26E revenue, adj EBITDA, EFCF, and DPS, and we include the April 2024 acquisition of Vertical Digital in our FY24-26E net cash, as we explain below. As Eleco builds upon the successful acquisition

An excellent win, momentum rebuilding

Made Tech has won a material expansion (worth up to £19.5m/2yrs) with a long-standing customer, The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (“DLUHC”). Coming off the back of a soft H1 bookings performance, we expect this win to materially boost investor sentiment and reassure how notwithstanding a tough backdrop (given an impending general election) MTEC continues to outcompete legacy providers and in-so-doing, grow its share of wallet with large/strategic customers. Landing near FY

LIBERUM: Cerillion: Continued strong trading in 1H

Morning Note – 23 April 2024

To infinity…

Cerillion has announced a very solid update, as H1 sales and EBITDA are both up 10% y/y to £22.5m and £10.9m respectively, notwithstanding the exceptionally strong base period (sales and EBITDA +27% and +38% resp.). Results therefore point to continued strong customer demand, reflecting how Cerillion’s out-of-the-box product continues to resonate and gain adoption, particularly in a ‘budget conscious’ environment, by offering faster time to market, greater configurability and at a lower cost. Me

In-line H1, strategic initiatives advancing at pace

As reported in March, underlying EBITDA profitability improved to record levels despite FX headwinds. Further platform and proposition developments were completed, key steps on its digital roadmap, and it has already won 7 contracts YTD. Alongside planned growth in private membership, this will at least offset the loss of one contract. Forecasts are left unchanged today and, as member engagement throttles back up, FX headwinds ease, and proof points of digital efficiency emerge, markets should b

itim - Further professional services contract secured with The Entertainer

itim is a disruptive SaaS-based platform that enables store-based retailers to implement a proven Omni-channel solution. This morning, the group has announced an additional professional services contract with its long-standing client, The Entertainer. Following a year-long trial, The Entertainer is opening in over 800 Tesco stores across the UK & Ireland, alongside a supplier agreement for Tesco stores across Central Europe. Under the contract, The Entertainer will extend its use of itim's Unify

Intelligent Ultrasound Group - GE Healthcare launches new Voluson Signature with

GE Healthcare has announced the launch of the Voluson Signature 20 and 18 ultrasound systems, with the related press release noting these systems ‘comprehensively integrate artificial intelligence’ to improve the ultrasound procedure for clinicians and the women being scanned. These ultrasound systems include SonoLyst, the AI which incorporates Intelligent Ultrasound’s ScanNav Assist and ScanNav AutoCapture AI software. The launch of additional Voluson systems including the SonoLyst suite of AI

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 22 April 2024

22nd April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: 16 April 2024: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radi

Alphawave Semi: FY23 trading update, amended forward guidance

Alphawave Semi has reduced guidance for FY23 and prospectively citing lower revenues from China, changes in expected revenue recognition from long-term contracts, and continuing investment in R&D. The share price has reacted negatively, giving up most of the gains since the trading statement at the end of January. Current consensus, which is a good match for pre-existing guidance, should be reduced, most likely following release of the FY23 results and full 1Q24 trading update due on 23 April. H

Morning Note – 26 March 2024

Devolver Digital (DEVO LN) - Rebuild year

Devolver Digital encouragingly delivered 2023 results slightly ahead of expectations and provided a steady medium-term outlook that leads us to reiterate our 2024 Adjusted EBITDA estimates. Longer term, the company is now planning to further develop its two major planned titles, Human Fall Flat 2 and System Era's next major new release. We now expect those major titles to be released in 2026 rather than 2025, meaning we lower our 2025 Adjusted EBITDA forecast to $10.6m from $17.6m but introduce

It’s not what you sell, it’s the way that you sell it

This report is intended to help UK small- and mid-cap investors gain a better understanding of software companies’ routes to market, and to highlight how one of the most important facets of the way in which they grow and deliver value is routinely ignored.  We examine sales processes for six UK-listed companies and one that has recently been taken over, and consider why they have followed their respective paths.

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 14 Mar 2024

Banquet Buffet*** Abingdon Health 9.25p £11.3m (ABDX.L) The lateral flow contract development and manufacturing organisation announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2023. Revenue increased 117% to £2.4m (H1 2023: £1.1m). The Adjusted EBITDA loss decreased 47% to £1.2m (H1 2023: £2.2m). Furthermore, reduction in operating loss of 50% to £1.2m (H1 2023: £2.4m). The Board therefore expects that H2 2024 revenue will be significantly improved compared with H1 2024

Morning Note – 8 April 2024