Market Report: Liberum puts the brakes on Sophos' share price decline

A bullish note on Sophos from broker Liberum put the brakes on the cyber security firm’s share price decline.

Analyst Eoin Lambe said the company, which was London’s biggest ever tech IPO when it floated in June, expects earnings to double over the next five years to $146m. That, along with a buy rating and 290p target price, filled investors with confidence and it rallied 7p to 231.6p.

When it joined the stock market at 225p, there was a share price surge thanks to institutional interest in cyber security. Since then, the shares have retreated amid the general market turmoil back towards the offer price. Rival NCC Group, up 10.5p at 260.5p, has revelled in the hype surrounding IT security. Its shares have jumped 22 per cent this year.

Blue-chips failed to bounce back after ending their losing streak on Monday, with the FTSE 100 sliding 28.9 points to 6,342.28 even after a big spike from SABMiller, up 326.5p to 3,948p after shaking hands with Budweiser brewing behemoth AB InBev over their £68bn megamerger.

Disappointing German data put investors off stocks, while more worrying signs from China – imports fell 20 per cent in September – spelt bad news for miners, including Glencore, down 3.1p to 118.05p, whose share price recovery has stalled.

Burberry, which has a large customer base in China, fell 45p to 1,430p, hurt also by slowing growth in the third-quarter from Louis Vuitton owner LVMH.

Banking shares were bashed on more global growth fears but Lloyds, down 1.15p at 74.75p, was the least hit after Jefferies lifted its target price to 104p.

The recent rally from supermarket shares meant more profit-taking from investors. Tesco dropped 7.8p to 194.05p, Sainbury’s fell 7.5p to 263.7p, while Morrisons lost 4p to 175p.

A downgrade to neutral from Citigroup saw Primark owner Associated British Foods lose its appeal as it slipped 69p to 3,310p, just over a month on from its big US launch in Boston.

Strong passenger numbers propelled Flybe 3.75p higher to 81p as the regional airline’s turnaround gathered pace.