Connor Carretta ’24 pitched Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW) on April 29, 2024. Palo Alto is a global cybersecurity leader, who brings value to customers in four key areas: Cloud Security, Security Operations, Network Security, and Threat Intelligence and Security Consulting. PANW offers a comprehensive portfolio of both products and subscription and support solutions to clients allowing them to be a one-stop cybersecurity provider to clients.
The investment thesis centered around the impending growth of the cybersecurity market as threats to online data continue to grow in both volume and sophistication. As an established market leader, PANW is well positioned to experience significant growth as the market expands as well as continue to outpace competitors in the development and integration of AI into their offerings. The class voted to purchase approximately $88,000 of PANW, funded by selling out of the portfolio’s position in IBM and a fraction of the stake in XLK. The class also voted to sell 3 September 300 calls to generate income and take advantage of the high implied volatility on PANW’s options.