Fortinet Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) announced updates to its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter of 2024. The company now projects earnings per share (EPS) between 0.580 and 0.620, surpassing the consensus estimate of 0.520. Furthermore, Fortinet has set its revenue guidance at $1.6 billion for the quarter, consistent with the consensus estimate.

Revised Full-Year Guidance

In addition to the quarterly outlook, Fortinet also revised its full-year 2024 EPS guidance, which is now projected to be between 2.200 and 2.280.

Analyst Recommendations

Various analysts have shared their insights on Fortinet's stock performance recently. Deutsche Bank raised its price target from $71.00 to $75.00, assigning a "hold" rating in its analysis. Citigroup increased its target from $66.00 to $76.00, maintaining a "neutral" stance. BMO Capital Markets also adjusted its forecast upward, lifting their target from $70.00 to $76.00 while giving it a "market perform" rating. Cantor Fitzgerald increased its target from $65.00 to $88.00, keeping a "neutral" rating as well. Scotiabank improved its price objective from $61.00 to $75.00 and rated the stock as "sector outperform". Overall, one analyst has rated Fortinet as a sell, while twenty have given it a hold rating, ten recommend buying, and one has labeled it a strong buy. The average rating of the stock is currently a "Hold" with a consensus target price of $74.68.

Stock Performance

On the trading day of the announcement, Fortinet's shares rose by 3.5%, with the stock trading at $83.68. The trading volume reached 6,010,774 shares compared to the usual volume of 5,422,708. Currently, the company has an impressive market capitalization of $64.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.85, and a P/E/G ratio of 2.78. The stock has seen a twelve-month low of $49.44 and a peak of $83.83. Fortinet also shows strong liquidity with a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.32, although it has a notably high debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45.

Recent Earnings Report

In its latest quarterly earnings report released on August 6, Fortinet reported an EPS of $0.57, exceeding expectations by $0.16. Revenue for the quarter reached $1.43 billion, again above consensus estimates of $1.40 billion. Compared to the same quarter last year, which recorded an EPS of $0.31, Fortinet showed significant improvement. Analysts currently anticipate that Fortinet will report an overall EPS of 1.75 for the full year.

Insider Transactions

In related developments, Fortinet's CEO, Ken Xie, sold 23,307 shares of stock on October 16 at an average price of $81.89, totalling approximately $1.9 million. Despite this transaction, he retains a substantial stake of 48,915,530 shares valued at around $4 billion. Recent insider sales amounted to 70,538 shares valued at $5.4 million over the last three months, with 18% of the stock currently held by insiders.

Company Overview

Fortinet is a global leader in cybersecurity, providing a wide range of networking and security solutions. Its offerings include secure networking focused on convergence, various network firewall products, wireless LAN solutions, and secure connectivity options like FortiSwitch and FortiAP.

Fortinet, Earnings, Guidance