Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Barracuda Networks, (NYSE: CUDA) rose more than 17% Monday after the company launched a new product and following a string of positive reports last week.
So what: On Monday morning, Barracuda announced its NG Firewall product is now available in the Amazon Web Services Marketplace. NG Firewall, for its part, is available as a "Bring Your Own License" service -- user licenses can be purchased starting at $1,599 through traditional channels -- and provides secure remote network access between customers' networks and the Amazon Web Services platform.
But it's also worth noting analysts at Jefferies Group did recently remind investors Barracuda stood among a list of several dozen recently IPOd stocks set for inclusion last Friday in the small-cap Russell 2000 index, which could certainly explain at least some of today's volatility.
What's more, in a newly issued research report to close last week, the folks at Merrill Lynch named Barracuda among its top tech ideas for 2014.
Now what: To be sure, Barracuda's business looks especially promising over the long-term considering it currently sports roughly 80% gross margin, and 70% of its sales come from recurring revenue streams. That's why, assuming Barracua continues to grow its top-line at a healthy clip and operating and net margins expand, even after today's pop the stock could prove a bargain for patient investors down the road.
