Fortinet rises after strong Q4 results, Wedbush calls it a 'beat and raise special'
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Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) shares rose more than 4% in early trading on Friday after the cyber security company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, with Wedbush Securities noting the company is in the "middle innings of a growth cycle."
In a note to investors, analyst Dan Ives said Fortinet had strong billings growth at 36% year-over-year to $1.31 billion, as it continues to see "strong demand" for its SD-WAN solution and there is accelerating deals, as Fortinet's other products are a "high priority" for clients.
"Importantly, FTNT also gave better than expected 2022 guidance for the year which speaks to the momentum the company has in our opinion heading into the coming year on the heels of this sweet spot product cycle which continues to play out along with the massive strength we are seeing in the field for the cyber security space, combined with a federal spending uptick giving an additional tailwind for the cyber security sector over the next 6 to 12 months," Ives wrote in a note to clients.
The analyst lowered his price target to $350, down from $400, noting a lower earnings multiple.
Fortinet earned $1.23 per share on $963.6 million in revenue, up 28.8% year-over-year. A consensus of Wall Street analysts expected the company to earn $1.15 per share on $961 million in revenue.
For the first-quarter, Fortinet expects revenue to be between $865 million and $895 million, and full-year revenue between $4.275 billion and $4.325 billion.
In addition, Ives added that Fortinet's offerings are "increasingly resonating with the global market as it offers a platform approach with increased visibility into the entire attack surface, a reduced number of isolated point products (thus a lower overall cost), and provides automation allowing the customer to build and orchestrate end-to-end workflow."
In December, Fortinet (FTNT) was listed as one of the top stocks to own for 2022 at Wedbush.