/Fortinet%20Inc%20Silicon%20Valley%20office%20sign-by%20Sundry%20Photography%20via%20Shutterstock.jpg)
Valued at a market cap of $73.6 billion, Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions. The Sunnyvale, California-based company’s solutions are designed to integrate multiple levels of security protection, including firewall, virtual private networking (VPN), antivirus, intrusion prevention, web filtering, anti-spam, and wide area network acceleration. It is expected to announce its fiscal Q4 earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, Feb. 6.
Prior to this event, analysts expect the cybersecurity company to report a profit of $0.52 per share, up 23.8% from $0.42 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently beaten Wall Street's bottom-line estimates in the last four quarters. Its adjusted earnings of $0.56 per share in its last reported quarter crushed the consensus estimates by a notable margin of 30.2%.
For fiscal 2024, analysts expect Fortinet to report an EPS of $1.94, up by an impressive 32% from $1.47 in fiscal 2023.
Shares of FTNT have rallied 56.8% over the past 52 weeks, significantly outperforming both the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 24.4% rise and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLK) 23.9% return over the same time frame.
Shares of Fortinet surged 10% after delivering better-than-expected Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.63 per share and revenues of $1.5 billion on Nov. 7. The bottom-line climbed 53.7% from the year-ago quarter, while revenues improved 13% year over year. Strong growth in its services revenues fueled by a rise in SaaS solutions along with higher-than-expected gross and operating margin expansion led to its robust performance. FTNT’s investments in the fast-growing markets of Unified SASE and Security Operations also aided the results.
Moreover, the company raised its full-year 2024 revenue guidance to $5.86-$5.92 billion and also raised its non-GAAP operating margin forecasts in the range of 32.9% to 33.9%. This might have further bolstered investor confidence.
Wall Street analysts are moderately optimistic about Fortinet’s stock, with a "Moderate Buy" rating overall. Among 37 analysts covering the stock, 14 recommend "Strong Buy," one indicates a “Moderate Buy,” 21 suggest “Hold,” and one suggests a “Strong Sell” rating. This configuration is slightly more bullish than two months ago, with four analysts suggesting a “Strong Buy.”
The mean price target for FTNT is $98.12, which indicates a slight 2.2% potential upside from the current levels.
