Down Bad

Why One of the Most Innovative AI Cybersecurity Stocks Is Trading Like It’s 2008

There’s a moment in trading when you know a stock is worth far more than what it's going for. You’ve seen the headlines, run the numbers, watched it run, and watched it fall—sometimes in ways that defy logic, news, or valuation. That moment? That’s where conviction begins. So here you go: I’m down bad on CISO Global (NASDAQ: CISO)… and I’ve averaged down.

Let’s rewind.

I originally called CISO Global as a swing trade at $1.23 back on December 5, 2024. It ripped all the way to $3.72. That’s a triple in a matter of days. And yes, I also laid out $5 and $10 price targets at the time—and I still stand by those calls. Hopefully, some of you took profits on the way up. In my experience, most small caps that rally that hard don’t just vanish. They typically hit target zones, retrace, consolidate, and set up for their next breakout. But right now? We’re watching what might be one of the most manipulated stocks on the market—despite some of the strongest news in the cybersecurity sector this year. With a float of just 12 million shares, and with 50% of those held tightly in insider hands, CISO traded over 20 million shares on Wednesday alone (check the volume on the chart above)

Let’s look at the fundamentals: As reported by Yahoo Finance, CISO Global has $54.6 million in trailing twelve-month revenue, and it’s trading at a market cap of $7.61 million. That’s a valuation that implies the company is worth around 0.1x price-to-sales —almost unheard of for a public company, let alone one that’s partnered with Microsoft and Amazon and holds independently valued IP in the tens of millions

That’s not a typo. This is a company with proprietary cybersecurity tools like Skanda, a next-gen AI-powered penetration testing platform, and CISO Edge, a real-time cloud security solution that just formally launched to enterprise clients and channel partners. These aren't pipe dreams. These are real products being used today by major corporate and government clients.

For reference, the median multiple for cybersecurity companies is 13.19x . We are sitting at 0.1x price-to-sales

So, what gives?

Earlier today, the company issued a rare public statement confirming that the recent collapse in share price has nothing to do with insider selling. In fact, no executives or board members have sold a single share during this week’s plunge. The company also hasn’t touched its ATM (At-The-Market financing facility) in 2025. The explanation? Market makers are likely behind this, with signs pointing to naked short selling—a tactic where shares are sold without actually borrowing them, creating an artificial increase in supply.

When you combine a tiny float (~11.97m) with heavy insider ownership (~50%) and next-to-no retail volume, it becomes very easy for bad actors to exploit the imbalance. That volatility is both the beauty and the danger of small-cap stocks. When the tide turns, it turns fast—and when it turns against you, it can be brutal.

But let’s zoom out for a second.

CISO Global has been steadily building its arsenal and market credibility. It’s working shoulder to shoulder with Microsoft’s Security Copilot team. It has a live integration with Amazon AWS. Its proprietary cybersecurity suite was valued at $50 million last year, with Skanda and CISO Edge making up $30 million of that. Just days ago, CISO Edge was shown blocking 87,000 cyberattacks in just six hours at DEF CON and Black Hat conferences—two of the toughest testing grounds in the world. Not a single breach.

And yet the stock is trading about 50 cents.

To me, that disconnect doesn’t represent a broken company. It represents a broken market. Or, more specifically, a market temporarily hijacked by traders playing games with a low-float gem while the rest of us watch fundamentals scream louder with every news release.

Let’s be honest—one way you can always tell someone’s “down bad” on a stock is when they start talking about “conviction.” But conviction isn’t some coping mechanism. It’s a decision to look beyond the noise and stick to what the data and your experience tell you. I’ve been doing this a long time. If you ever catch me holding a fairly priced toy in my portfolio, it means I’ve officially retired from trading.

Here’s my thesis boiled down: CISO Global is a cutting-edge AI cybersecurity firm with serious partnerships, elite products, and a management team that keeps executing. It’s trading at microcap levels only because someone wants it there. And when the manipulation stops—or someone decides they’ve accumulated enough—the stock will respond. Hard.

This isn’t financial advice. You do you. But I know what I own, and I know the setup.

The bottom line here is that shareholders need a more comprehensive update from the company—not just a denial of insider selling, but a deeper dive into financials, product rollout traction, partnerships, and what comes next. Updated financials for 2024 will unveil the true health of the balance sheet and the annual shareholders meeting is coming up. The company seems like they have been setting the table with recent news to provide for an optimistic 2025. So, we may look back at this week’s volatility as nothing more than a painful, beautiful buying opportunity.

We all want to catch the top, but the real edge comes from spotting value when it’s at its most unloved. And right now, CISO Global is down bad—but not out.

XO - Penny