Summit Analyst Boosts FireEye Q2 EPS Outlook, Cites Technology And Structure

An analyst at Summit Research boosted his forecast for FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE) slightly, citing what he called its advantages in both structure and technology.

Analyst Richard Williams said advantages held by the computer security company can help it sustain high growth rates in the face of competitors' recent efforts to diminish its lead.

Williams forecast second-quarter earnings of $0.58 per share, on revenue of $90.1 million, versus a Wall Street consensus of $0.60 per share, on revenue of $90 million.

In the year-earlier second quarter, Summit posted an adjusted net loss of $2.17 per share, on revenue of $33.2 million.

Williams' note didn't cite his earlier forecast, but characterized his adjustment as "slight." He maintained a Buy rating and $38.96 price target.

FireEye's "industry leading detection rate" regarding security threats stems from its ability to trick malware to launch attacks in FireEye "sandboxes" where researchers can capture critical decryption keys. With these keys, Williams said, FireEye can block hackers from obtaining customer data.

"We know of no rival that can capture decrypt keys in realtime while scanning all network traffic in monitor or block mode," Williams said.

Shares of FireEye were trading at $38.04 shortly after the open, down 2.4 percent.