What happened
Shares of SolarWinds (SWI 0.27%) have jumped today, up by 14% as of 11:50 a.m. EST, despite receiving multiple downgrades from Wall Street. Truist Securities and Baird both downgraded SolarWinds stock from buy to hold. Truist analyst Terry Tillman cut his price target from $26 to $14, while Baird analyst Rob Oliver dropped his valuation estimate from $24 to $15.
So what
The network management software maker is at the heart of the massive hack that has impacted numerous U.S. government agencies, and shares have been extremely volatile since the breach was disclosed earlier this month.
Image source: Getty Images.
The tech stock lost 40% of its value last week after SolarWinds warned that it was too early to estimate the ultimate impact to its business. Tillman echoed that sentiment, noting that there is little visibility into how the cyberattack could hurt SolarWinds' business in the long term.
Now what
The stock is bouncing back somewhat today amid ongoing volatility as investors continue to assess the situation. SolarWinds has been in damage control, providing an update on Thursday that the vulnerability has been addressed with a "hotfix" update that the company promptly rolled out. SolarWinds has been proactively reaching out to customers to ensure that they have upgraded to the latest software.
The company said the attack was "incredibly complex" and that it will take time for the investigation to be completed. SolarWinds has retained third-party cybersecurity experts to assist in the investigation. U.S. intelligence agencies have said that the hack was orchestrated by the Russian government.
