The AI firm’s journey so far shows nobody has a real idea of what cyber-fighting tech is worth
A loss-making business that uses artificial intelligence to spot cyber abnormalities was never likely to be easy to value but, even with that proviso, Darktrace’s first six months as a public company have been extraordinary.
The story so far is a listing at 250p in May to a rapturous reception. By September, the shares were touching £10, equating to a valuation of £7bn, enough for entry to the FTSE 100 index to replace private equity-bound Morrisons. The decline started almost simultaneously. The shares lost a fifth one day last week as a broker turned bearish, and have mostly kept falling. Wednesday’s 5% tumble took the price to 600p.
