Shares of Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT) climbed in premarket trading on Wednesday, after the cybersecurity company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the release.
Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens maintained a Neutral rating, while lifting the price target from $60 to $75.
Truist Securities analyst Junaid Siddiqui reiterated a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $60 to $80.
Mizuho Securities analyst Michael Romanelli reaffirmed a Neutral rating, while lifting the price target from $60 to $70.
Stifel analyst Adam Borg maintained a Hold rating, while raising the price target from $52 to $78.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives reiterated an Outperform rating, while lifting the price target from $75 to $86.
Baird analyst Shrenik Kothari reiterated an Outperform rating and price target of $81.
KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Eric Heath reaffirmed a Sector Weight rating on the stock.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
Piper Sandler: “Following two quarters of resets, 4Q results provided a sense of stabilization to the narrative, with billings showing strong outperformance on large deal trends / execution, helping the 2024 billings guide come in modestly ahead of expectations,” Owens wrote in a note.
While Fortinet’s secure networking business could continue facing headwinds in the back half of the year, due to backlogs, momentum seems to be building in the SecOps / SASE businesses, he added.
Truist Securities: Fortinet reported solid results for the fourth quarter, with higher-than-expected revenues, billings and margins, Siddiqui said. The upside in billings was driven by “improved sales execution and early returns on its pivot to SASE and SecOps,” he added.
“We continue to favor FTNT’s balanced approach to growth and profitability making FTNT a defensible name long-term, in our view,” the analyst further stated.
Mizuho Securities: Fortinet’s total billings grew 8-9% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, significantly outperforming expectations of a 5% decline, Romanelli said. He added, however, that the decline in product revenues was much steeper than expected.
“We find the increased traction for SecOps and SASE encouraging,” the analyst wrote. “Still,…
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