Dear Mr. Berko: About four years ago, I bought 200 shares of FireEye at $53, and two months later, it had fallen to $33. You said to sell it because the underwriters were a “crock of crooks” and told me it wouldn’t have earnings for years. Why were you so down on the stock? Last week, you told a friend of mine who sent you an email about FireEye that he should buy the stock. I still have my original stock. What has changed? Should I buy more?
— CR, Kankakee, Ill.
Dear CR: I won’t comment on what I told your friend, but please ask to see the email I sent him. Hacking has become an extremely profitable business, and FireEye wants to prevent it from becoming an even bigger business. There has been an explosion in the number of cyberattacks, not just in the U.S. but around the world. And it’s FireEye’s business to find and burn the hackers.
During a general conversation with the manager of a large mutual fund five-plus years ago, I was told that a company called FireEye (FEYE-$17) would come public at $20 a share in the next few weeks. He said that FEYE was “involved in a sexy business” and that if management could report a profit, the stock could run to $100. That was the summer of 2013, and I’d never heard of FireEye. I figured it was a biotech company specializing in eye diseases and commented to the fund manager that I was familiar with some of the medical research.
I was chagrinned when told that FEYE had pioneered a purpose-built, machine-based security platform providing real-time threat protection, allowing enterprises and governments to prepare for, prevent, respond to and remediate cyberattacks.
