When cloud cybersecurity firm Lacework recently raised its valuation more than eight times in its largest-ever funding round, it suddenly became a hot favorite among investors looking for a great deal.
But can you buy Lacework stock right now? Or is there any news for a Lacework IPO any soon?
We checked it out, and here’s what came out.
Can You Buy Lacework Stock?
No, Lacework is not listed on any stock exchange right now. It had announced its intention to go public in 2021, but nothing has moved on this front since then.
Partly the reason could be the recent economic downturn facing the markets.
However, investors who want to own its shares might have other ways to get them.
In this article, we will explain the option in detail. Let us begin with some information about Lacework, what it does, its ownership, revenues, and other such details.
About the Company
Lacework is a data-driven security platform.
It automates the process of collecting and analyzing vast amounts of information available in multi-cloud environments.
One of the key goals of data security today is achieving CNAPP (Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms).
Lacework is a frontrunner in this direction.
Its core product offering is the Polygraph Data platform, an unsupervised machine learning (ML) model.
It identifies baseline characteristics in cloud data for vulnerability management.
This information reduces the number of alerts that SecOps teams face.
Instead, the platform provides only high-fidelity triggers, significantly reducing their workload.
The three primary services it provides include:
- Cloud security posture and compliance: Identification of all assets and monitoring of compliance violations as well as misconfigurations
- Managing host and container vulnerabilities during the development stage & right upto runtime
- Malicious runtime behavior detection and continuous monitoring for abnormalities
Lacework currently provides services for all major cloud computing platforms:
- Kubernetes
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Services (GCS)
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
It is the only one to do so, and this is not by coincidence.
One of the key advantages of Lacework’s solution is that it was built on the Snowflake platform.
This gave it instant access to all of the above, apart from also having the in-built capacity to manage more than 60 PB of data every day.
NerdWallet, Snowflake, Nextdoor, and several major companies rely on the cloud security tools created by Lacework.
Recently, however, the agentless + agent-based approach of its solution has not been in favor of the industry.
This has allowed competitors such as Wiz the chance to make headway and give it a tough fight.
Who Owns the Company?
Lacework was incubated at Sutter Hill Ventures, whose MD Stefan Dyckerhoff was the first CEO of the firm.
Its entrepreneur-in-residence Vikram Kapoor was the co-founder on the technical front.
Till now, it is a private company.
It has backing from major investors such as Sutter Hill Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Snowflake Ventures, and Webb Investment Network
The current executive team includes Jay Parikh as CEO, Vikram, who has stayed on as CTO, and the recently appointed Andrew Casey as CFO.
How Much Is the Company Worth?
Lacework has an $8.3 billion valuation as per its last funding round in 2021.
It raised nearly $1.3 billion with participation from investors such as Tiger Global Management, Dragoneer Investment Group, and D1 Capital Partners.
It was one of the biggest venture funding rounds of 2021.
Revenue
While no concrete numbers are available, online estimates put Lacework’s sales figures between $60 to $100 million.
But what is more astonishing is the pace of growth.
As per a press release from the company, the first quarter of 2021 saw a three-fold increase in revenues.
Lacework IPO Date
In a 2021 interview with Reuters, the then co-CEO David Hatfield confirmed that Lacework plans to go public.
He mentioned that many options were available for a company of its size, including direct listing on the stock market.
However, no date or details were confirmed at the time.
Since then, Laceworks has also had another huge round of funding in Nov’21.
It seems that the IPO talks have gone on hold for now.
However, the appointment of Andrew Casey as CFO in Nov’22 once again ignited speculation.
Before Lacework, he was the CFO for software provider WalkMe.
He led a successful public debut of this firm in Jun’21.
Lacework Stock Symbol
As of now, no Lacework IPO has formally been announced.
However, it is possible that it could go public in the future.
When it happens, these are some of the possible options it may choose for ticker symbols:
- POLY
- LACE
- LWRK
But as of now, there is no telling what it might be when the listing is announced.
Several factors are considered before making such decisions.
The market would only know the real symbol once the S-10 forms are filed with the SEC.
Lacework Stock Price
While Lacework stock is not currently available to buy, it may have an IPO sometime in the near future.
One way to judge what price it might choose to debut on the market is to look at competitor shares.
We went through some of these companies’ stocks and analyzed their pricing.
As per this rough estimation, an initial offer of somewhere between $50 to $150 might be suitable for Lacework.
Of course, this is a very rudimentary way of estimating it.
There could be several factors that the firm’s bankers might consider before making a final decision.
How to Invest in Lacework?
The Lacework IPO may or may not be around the corner.
But if you are interested in getting in on the solid growth of this firm, there are other ways.
For example, several marketplaces like Linqto, UpMarket, and EquityZen facilitate pre-IPO investment opportunities.
Early investors or employees who wish to sell their stocks can meet interested traders on these sites.
However, Lacework stock does not appear to be available on either of these places currently.
But for those who are keen, this is one option to always keep in mind.
However, please note that pre-IPO shares usually have high minimum investment requirements.
Lacework Competitors You Can Invest In
Cybersecurity has seen a lot of competition in recent years, along with rapid growth.
Startups like Lacework have upset the apple cart for major players like Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet.
Both of these companies have products designed for the on-site server world.
On the other hand, the newer firms’ focus has been on the growing cloud security space.
Keeping an eye on the trends, the two industry leaders have created products for the cloud security space.
If we were to talk about direct competitors to Laceworks, these would be Arctic Wolf, Wiz, and Orca Security.
But none of the above firms is currently listed on the stock exchange.
Hence, we have considered the three largest publicly traded companies in the cybersecurity space to represent the competition below.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW)
Palo Alto is by far the world’s largest cybersecurity firm, with a market capitalization of $57.7 billion.
Its core product is a set of advanced firewalls that helps protects businesses from digital attacks.
The firm’s product Prisma Cloud is a direct competitor to Lacework since it operates in the same space and works on the SaaS model.
In the fiscal year 2022, Palo Alto Networks had revenues of $5.5 billion and net earnings of -$267 million.
Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT)
Fortinet is an information security company. It designs software for firewalls and intrusion detection.
The firm also has offerings in the cloud security space, but its solution is not a direct competitor to that of Lacework.
In the year 2022, Fortinet had $4.42 billion in revenue, as well as $857.3 million in net earnings.
Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK)
Using a web-based interface, Splunk Inc produces programs that help search, monitor, and analyze data in the cloud.
It is an excellent logging tool that is used by many SecOps teams.
Laceworks product offers similar capabilities as Splunk but also gives vulnerability management and compliance.
In 2023, this company had sales of $3.65 billion and net earnings of – $-277.86 million.
Wait for a Lacework IPO or No?
Lacework is certainly one of the most awaited IPOs in the tech sector.
If and when it happens, there will likely be a lot of excitement around it.
The kind of valuations the firm already commands from private investors is staggering.
However, such extremely high numbers sometimes do not go down very well with market participants.
They may tend to see the firm as overpriced and steer clear of investing.
Whether waiting for the IPO makes sense depends upon several factors.
As of now, there is little in the way of financial data regarding the firm’s operations.
For example, we do not know anything about its profitability or order pipeline.
Without this data, it is hard to judge which way the listing might go.
All we can say at this time is that traders should watch the filing details very carefully if and when the listing happens.
For those who are keen on investing in cybersecurity right now, there are some publicly traded alternatives that we mentioned above.
Final Thoughts
Lacework is not listed right now.
However, their CEO’s statements from some time back indicate that it might be looking at options to become public in the future.
Its unique machine learning-based multi-cloud security solution has made huge waves in the cybersecurity industry. And the impact is shown in the valuation it has gotten from its investors.
If and when the IPO happens, it is bound to be a very closely watched and major event on the stock market. Research has shown that cybersecurity is a trillion-dollar opportunity right now. It makes sense for investors to try and grab a piece of this fast-growing industry.
Whether waiting for Laceworks IPO is the right move or not, only time can tell.
We have shared all the details that are currently available, apart from some competitor shares that traders might also look at.
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