NQ Mobile Gains 7% as Cisco Buys Sourcefire
By Ben Levisohn
NQ Mobile’s (NQ) stock has jumped 6.9% to $12.00 today, and the Chinese online-security firm’s shares are up 53% during the last month.
AFP
There was a bit of company specific news today, as NQ announced that one of its subsidiaries, Beijing Feiliu Jiutian Technology, had signed a deal with Baidu (BIDU) to distribute a mobile game, “The Martial Arts Champion.” I may be wrong, but I doubt that’s the reason for stock’s pop.
Instead, look at what’s happened to shares of online-security companies today, following the acquisition of Sourcefire (FIRE) byCisco Systems (CSCO). Shares of Fortinet (FTNT), for one, have gained 4.1%. (Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP) has dropped 1% and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has dipped 0.4%, however).
I wouldn’t be surprised if NQ is rallying on the Sourcefire acquisition. As my colleague Tiernan Ray noted earlier, at least one analyst called the takeover “game changing” for the industry, and expects more consolidation in the future.
And NQ could be a target, at least if this Seeking Alpha post can be believed. And while I appreciate irony of U.S. internet users getting their security from a Chinese firm, NQ’s mobile-security software is already being used by U.S. Cellular.
And why not? China’s hacking U.S. computers; the U.S. is hacking China; and the U.S. is reading the emails of Americans and foreigners alike.
In this day and age, we can all use a little more security.
