Traveling back from a conference in Florida this week, the TSA line promoted a company involved in “zero-trust” cybersecurity. Once on the plane, I was seated near a government official preparing a presentation on irregular warfare and failures in U.S.-Iran policy. It got me thinking: what innovative technology companies are serving the U.S. government that actually also meet my typical battery of equity screening tests of growth, momentum, preferably combined with valuations a little lower than the jet I was flying in? The S & P 500 has a 5-year revenue compound annual growth rate of about 6% and an EPS CAGR of 8%, so I set both as a floor. It’s hard to claim a stock has “momentum” if it is trading below the 50-day moving average, or the 200-day, for that matter, so stocks failing that test were similarly excluded. Solid growth rates are nothing if they are either slowing or not expected to continue. So companies whose revenue growth had slowed in the past twelve months, whose subsequent FY revenue growth was less than 6%, or those that had seen recent negative revisions to revenue estimates were similarly dismissed from consideration. Only 20 companies in the Russell 1000 met this admittedly rigorous test, and only one of those 20 is a technology company that supports national security in intelligence and defense, serving both federal and civilian sectors: CACI International Inc. CACI serves the U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, providing software, IT modernization, and specialized technology solutions deeply embedded in customers’ operations, including national security priorities such as electronic warfare, signals intelligence, space-based ISR, zero-trust cyber, and 5G/next-gen communications. Perhaps you’re wondering what “zero-trust cyber” is, which I wanted to delve into a bit more deeply after seeing the airport advertisements. Zero-trust cyber (or zero trust security / zero trust architecture) is a cybersecurity model built around one blunt idea: “Never trust, always verify.” Instead of assuming things inside your network are safe, and things outside are dangerous, zero trust assumes everything could be compromised – users, devices, apps, and networks – and forces them to prove they’re trustworthy every time they ask for access. This differs from the old security model we’re typically accustomed to, which takes a “castle and moat” approach that uses big perimeter defenses such as firewalls, VPNs. Still, once you’re inside the network, you’re mostly trusted. In this structure, attackers who gain access can often move laterally and cause significant damage. In a zero-trust environment, every user and device must be authenticated and authorized for each resource, every time, and it assumes the network might already be compromised. This is but one of the seven markets the company identified in its most recent investor presentation in October: FY2026 revenue guidance of $9.2 – $9.4 billion represents growth of more than 8%, the company’s own 3-year financial targets are for high-single digit revenue growth and more than 15% free cash flow growth and order backlog of $34 billion and $13 billion in bids are expected to be submitted within the next two quarters, 75% of which is for new business. (source: CACI Investor Presentation, October 2025). The trade Intermediate support is ~ $570 per share, a 3.67% discount to the current stock price – one can sell the January 570 puts at $15.10 – which offer a standstill yield of more than 2.6% over 44 days, or an annualized rate of more than 21% – well above the 12% minimum I generally require for such trades, which is dictated by the fact that selling a put involves the risk that the put seller may be compelled to purchase the underlying stock. An equity risk deserves an equity-like rate of return. DISCLOSURES: None. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.
