Garmin
A ransomware attack encrypted Garmin systems and interrupted online services, customer support, applications and company communications.
+1.1% GRMN vs +3.9% SPY
This site shows how share prices moved after an incident became public. It does not prove that the incident caused the move. Company news, sector moves and the wider market can affect every result. Educational only — not investment advice.
Disclosure timing
When could the market react?
The baseline is the last adjusted close before the news was public. The reaction session is the first close afterward.
- 01Baseline sessionJul 22, 2020
Normalized to 100 for both GRMN and SPY.
- 02Public disclosureJul 23, 2020 · time unknown
Publication time is not documented; lower timing precision.
- 03First reaction closeJul 23, 2020
-1.1% company total return versus -1.2% for SPY; +0.1 pp market-relative return.
Disclosure time is unknown; the previous session close is used as baseline.
Time windows
Company vs SPY
Each row uses the last trading session on or before its target date. “Market-relative” is the company return minus the SPY return, in percentage points.
| Window | Endpoint | GRMN | SPY | Market-relative | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First reaction | Jul 23, 2020 | -1.1% | -1.2% | +0.1 pp | Above SPY |
| +7 days | Jul 30, 2020 | -1.3% | -0.9% | -0.4 pp | Below SPY |
| +1 month | Aug 21, 2020 | +1.1% | +3.9% | -2.8 pp | Below SPY |
| +3 months | Oct 23, 2020 | +0.1% | +6.2% | -6.1 pp | Below SPY |
| +6 months | Jan 22, 2021 | +23.6% | +18.1% | +5.5 pp | Above SPY |
| +12 months | Jul 23, 2021 | +55.3% | +36.6% | +18.7 pp | Above SPY |
Compare with current catalog aggregates
| Window | This case | Catalog median | Catalog mean | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First reaction | +0.1 pp | -0.8 pp | -1.5 pp | 30 |
| +7 days | -0.4 pp | -2.0 pp | -4.0 pp | 30 |
| +1 month | -2.8 pp | -6.6 pp | -6.8 pp | 30 |
| +3 months | -6.1 pp | -5.1 pp | -6.6 pp | 30 |
| +6 months | +5.5 pp | -5.6 pp | -7.5 pp | 30 |
| +12 months | +18.7 pp | -3.7 pp | -10.1 pp | 30 |
Normalized total return
GRMN compared with SPY
Baseline session = 100. Adjusted close reflects splits and reinvested distributions.
Garmin had +55.3% company total return versus +36.6% for SPY; +18.7 pp market-relative return. The chart shows normalized adjusted-close performance for up to 24 months.
View tabular chart fallback
| Date | GRMN | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2020 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Aug 20, 2020 | 101.6 | 103.5 |
| Sep 21, 2020 | 93.6 | 100.4 |
| Oct 20, 2020 | 98.1 | 105.5 |
| Nov 18, 2020 | 113.5 | 109.4 |
| Dec 18, 2020 | 119.2 | 113.9 |
| Jan 21, 2021 | 123.5 | 118.5 |
| Feb 22, 2021 | 127.4 | 119.4 |
| Mar 23, 2021 | 126.5 | 120.5 |
| Apr 22, 2021 | 139.5 | 127.6 |
| May 21, 2021 | 140.2 | 128.4 |
| Jun 22, 2021 | 143.4 | 131.4 |
| Jul 22, 2021 | 152.2 | 135.2 |
| Aug 20, 2021 | 171.7 | 137.7 |
| Sep 21, 2021 | 168.2 | 135.1 |
| Oct 20, 2021 | 164.1 | 140.9 |
| Nov 18, 2021 | 146.2 | 146.3 |
| Dec 20, 2021 | 131.4 | 142.2 |
| Jan 20, 2022 | 125.3 | 139.6 |
| Feb 18, 2022 | 116.4 | 135.7 |
| Mar 22, 2022 | 121.2 | 141.0 |
| Apr 21, 2022 | 115.8 | 137.4 |
| May 20, 2022 | 102.9 | 122.2 |
| Jun 22, 2022 | 99.4 | 117.9 |
| Jul 22, 2022 | 108.1 | 124.4 |
Media attention · first 14 days
How this incident was covered
Written articles whose recorded headline explicitly names Garmin, recovered from a fixed panel of seven US publisher families. This is an observed lower bound, not a count of all coverage.
Publication pace
Publisher mix
What the recorded headline emphasized
These local labels describe headline wording. They do not measure reader sentiment, publisher stance, blame, or reputational impact.
- DescriptiveIdentifies or explains the event.
- 1
- Adverse eventEmphasizes theft, disruption, loss, harm, or failure.
- 0
- Mitigation or actionEmphasizes protection, investigation, recovery, a fix, or limited scope.
- 1
- FavorablePresents an affirmatively favorable outcome for the selected company.
- 0
Sources checked 2026-07-22 · 0 archive copies
Price recovery
Recovered
Here, recovery only means that adjusted close reached the baseline again. It does not mean every effect of the incident ended.
- State
- Recovered
- Initial trough
- -4.5% on Jul 24, 2020
- Recovery close
- Aug 5, 2020
- Calendar days
- 13
- Observation cap
- 24 months after disclosure
Hypothetical $1,000
What would $1,000 have looked like?
Compare $1,000 in GRMN with $1,000 in SPY, bought and measured on the same dates.
Entry Jul 27, 2020 Exit Jan 27, 2021
Uses fractional shares and adjusted close. Leaves out taxes, fees and slippage. The holding period starts on the purchase date. This is a historical illustration, not an investment strategy.
Case note
Garmin publicly acknowledged a broad service outage on July 23 and later confirmed that a cyberattack had encrypted some systems. Garmin Connect, support, customer applications and company communications were among the affected services.
Two independent contemporaneous reports anchor the initial public date; the later issuer statement confirms cause and scope. Garmin traded on Nasdaq at the event even though its present exchange is different.
Evidence
Sources and case review
We qualify each case before checking its price results. These links support the disclosure date, listing, incident and business impact.
- primary Jul 27, 2020Garmin issues statement on recent outage Garmin Ltd. Supports: Listing, Impact, Description
- secondary Jul 23, 2020Garmin outage caused by confirmed WastedLocker ransomware attack BleepingComputer Supports: Disclosure, Timing, Impact
- secondary Jul 23, 2020Garmin down: what happened during the outage TechRadar Supports: Disclosure, Timing
- Listing evidenceChecked Jul 20, 2026Garmin statement on recent outage Garmin Ltd. The issuer release identifies Garmin as Nasdaq: GRMN; the company later transferred exchanges after the event.
Why it is included. Garmin directly suffered an encryption attack whose outage affected multiple customer-facing and operational services worldwide, providing a clear disruption signal independent of its later materiality assessment. Reviewed Jul 20, 2026.