Fortinet Stock Is Rising Today: What's Going On?

Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT) shares are rising Wednesday morning after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter results and issued strong guidance. Several analysts also raised price targets on the stock following the company's quarterly results.

• Q4 Revenue: $1.28 billion missed estimates of $1.29 billion
• Q4 EPS: $0.44 beat estimates of $0.39

Fortinet said product revenue was up 43% year-over-year, while service revenue grew 27%. Billings jumped 32% compared to the prior year's quarter.

"Our market share gains are being driven by Fortinet's integrated and single platform approach to cybersecurity combined with FortiASIC technology, which lowers the management costs and the total cost of ownership for organizations," said Ken Xie, founder, chairman and CEO of Fortinet.

Outlook: Fortinet expects first-quarter revenue to be between $1.18 billion and $1.22 billion versus estimates of $1.18 billion. First-quarter adjusted earnings are expected to be in a range of 27 cents to 29 cents per share versus estimates of 27 cents per share.

Fortinet sees full-year 2023 revenue between $5.37 billion and $5.43 billion versus estimates of $5.36 billion. The company sees full-year adjusted earnings in a range of $1.39 to $1.41 per share versus estimates of $1.39 per share. 

Analyst Assessment: 

• Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens maintained Fortinet with a Neutral and raised the price target from $57 to $64.
• Raymond James analyst Adam Tindle maintained Fortinet with an Outperform and raised the price target from $60 to $70.
• JPMorgan analyst Brian Essex maintained Fortinet with an Overweight and raised the price target from $69 to $70.
• Wells Fargo analyst Andrew Nowinski maintained Fortinet with an Overweight and raised the price target from $62 to $72.
• Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained Fortinet with an Outperform and raised the price target from $64 to $70.

One firm also downgraded the stock after shares charged higher on earnings: Keybanc analyst Michael Turits downgraded Fortinet from Overweight to Sector Weight.

FTNT Price Action: Fortinet has a 52-week high of $71.52 and a 52-week low of $42.61.

Fortinet shares are up 12.1% at $60.26 Wednesday morning, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: vicky gharat from Pixabay.