We recently published a list of 12 High Growth International Stocks to Invest in Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) stands against other high growth international stocks to invest in now.

What To Expect From The Stock Market in 2025?

On January 15, Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Management & Research Company shared his outlook for 2025. He believes that the market has lost some of its momentum as the prospects of more rate cuts in 2025 have gone slimmer. One of the reasons for less likely rate cuts came a few weeks ago with a stronger-than-expected job market report, which sparked a market dip. Moreover, on the same day, long-term interest rates went higher. The 10-year treasury yield climbed closer to the 5% mark which has haunted stocks in the past.

However, Timmer believes the market is still in a bull phase, primarily driven by rising earnings, which he expects will continue to support market growth. This optimism is grounded in the historical performance of bull markets, where earnings often play a crucial role in sustaining upward momentum. He pointed out that as bull markets mature, they typically experience greater volatility. This means that even minor disruptions can lead to significant market fluctuations. High price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios contribute to this sensitivity, as elevated valuations can make the market more susceptible to corrections. Timmer also highlighted his concerns over interest rates, specifically, the Fed’s ability to cut rates, which are likely to persist. This “interest-rate angst” could continue influencing market behavior throughout the year, as investors will continue to grapple with how rate changes can affect stock valuations and overall economic conditions.

Moreover, Timmer also discussed the shifting dynamics in the stock market, particularly focusing on the transition from a narrow leadership group to a broader market participation. He noted that in the latter half of 2024, there was a notable shift in market leadership from the “Magnificent 7”, to a wider array of stocks. This broadening indicates that more sectors and companies are contributing to market gains, which is generally seen as a positive sign for overall market health. However, since mid-December, following the Fed’s reduced expectations for interest rate cuts, the market has lost momentum, as only 24% of stocks were trading above their 50-day moving average, and just 29% of S&P 500 stocks were outperforming the index. This indicates a narrowing participation in market gains, which is concerning for investors who prefer broad-based growth.

While talking about large-cap stock performance, Timmer raises the question of whether this trend of narrow leadership will persist. He suggested that trends continue to move in the same direction until a significant change occurs. Given that large-cap growth stocks have dominated for years, it is reasonable to assume that they may continue to lead. However, he also cautioned the investors that as per the concept of mean reversion, asset prices will eventually return to their historical averages and when this happens, it could lead to sharp corrections in stock prices. Timmer believes that while 2024 was a “Goldilocks year,” for earnings and valuations, this year can be a tussle between higher earnings and rising long-term interest rates, thereby resulting in a volatile market.

Our Methodology

To curate the list of 12 high-growth international stocks to invest in now, we used the Finviz stock screener and Seeking Alpha. We used the screener as a starting point of our research to get (Ex-USA) stocks that have grown their revenue by more than 15% during the last 5 years. Next, we checked these stocks for 10-year revenue growth rates from Seeking Alpha and selected only those stocks that had grown by more than 25% during the last decade. Lastly, we ranked the stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders sourced from Insider Monkey’s third-quarter database.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR)

10-Year Revenue Growth Rate: 26.49%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) is an Israel-based company that focuses on IT security solutions. Its software helps organizations defend against both external and internal cyber threats. It enables the detection and neutralization of attacks aimed at these privileged accounts through a range of products including Enterprise Password Vault, Privileged Session Manager, and Privileged Threat Analytics.

On January 21, analysts at Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $340 to $400, while maintaining their Outperform rating on the stock. The company reported strong financial results for the fiscal third quarter of 2024, driven by its effective identity security solutions that cater to both human and machine identities. Its Annual Recurring Revenue reached $735 million indicating a 46% increase year-over-year. Management of CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) has been focused on integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to improve their software detection and response time. To achieve this integration, the company also acquired Venafi in October 2024. The acquisition has enhanced CyberArk’s capabilities in machine identity management and expanded its addressable market significantly. It is one of the high-growth international stocks to invest in now.

Next Century Growth Small Cap Strategy stated the following regarding CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYBR) is a leading identity security platform which helps companies protect against cybersecurity attacks. CYBR specializes in privileged access management (PAM) and has a full suite of products for identity security. As cyber attack sophistication increases, companies of all sizes need to upgrade from legacy solutions such as SSO (single sign on) and MFA (multi-factor authentication), which is leading to a strong demand environment for CYBR’s solutions. Given this end market backdrop, the company is growing revenue >20% and is delivering solid margin expansion.”

Overall, CYBR ranks 3rd on our list of high growth international stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the potential of CYBR to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CYBR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.