Fortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth

seekingalpha05-03

Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of ...

Source Link

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

MaxGain
05-03
MaxGain
With a high interest over a longer period, the massive debt (a crazy P/B Ratio -107) that FTNT is carrying may just CRUSH the camel's back, sending it into a downward crash. Not sure if all the analyst have been drinking loads of 'KOOL AID' to have such a ludicrous positive outlook on this sinking ship.

Leave a comment

{"i18n":{"language":"en_US"},"isChannel":false,"data":{"share":"https://ttm.financial/m/news/2432970886?lang=en_US&edition=fundamental","thumbnail":"https://static.seekingalpha.com/cdn/s3/uploads/getty_images/1989493222/image_1989493222.jpg","is_english":true,"pubTime":"2024-05-03 21:26","share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/5a36db9d73b4222bc376d24ccc48c8a4","id":"2432970886","market":"sg","top_or_hot":-1,"title":"Fortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth","media":"seekingalpha","content":"<div>\n<p>Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n","source":"seekingalpha","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Fortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nFortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2024-05-03 21:26 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth><strong>seekingalpha</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"LU2023250843.SGD","symbol_name":"Allianz Thematica Cl AT Acc H2-SGD","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth","article_id":"2432970886","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://static.seekingalpha.com/cdn/s3/uploads/getty_images/1989493222/image_1989493222.jpg"],"rights":null,"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2432970886","pubTimestamp":1714742810,"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"seekingalpha","name":"Seeking Alpha"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of t","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"seekingalpha.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"LU2023250843.SGD":"Allianz Thematica Cl AT Acc H2-SGD","LU2286300806.USD":"Allianz Cyber Security AT Acc USD","LU2106854487.HKD":"ALLIANZ THEMATICA \"AMG\" (HKD) INC","BK4585":"ETF&股票定投概念","LU0079474960.USD":"联博美国增长基金A","BK4097":"系统软件","LU2023250504.SGD":"Allianz Thematica Cl AMg DIS H2-SGD","BK4588":"碎股","BK4560":"网络安全概念","LU1974910355.USD":"Allianz Thematica Cl AMg DIS USD","LU1917777945.USD":"安联专题基金Cl AT Acc","FTNT":"飞塔信息","BK4532":"文艺复兴科技持仓"},"translate_title":"Fortinet下跌，Q1喜忧参半，比林斯错过，但华尔街对未来增长持积极态度","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"FTNT":1},"content_text":"Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of the cybersecurity and networking solutions provider. KeyBanc reiterated its Sector Weight rating on Fortinet noting that the first quarter billings miss, and the second quarter billings guidance was below estimates, consistent with the firm's weaker checks and recently lowered estimates. Analysts led by Eric Heath said that the company's first quarter margins and free cash flow, or FCF, both saw solid beats. FY24 billings outlook was maintained despite the first quarter billings miss and second quarter billings outlook miss, implying a steeper second-half ramp. KeyBanc noted that the FY24 revenue/EBIT guidance was above estimates. While -18% year-over-year product growth and -6% billings growth this quarter likely set the trough of the firewall cycle, visibility into the timing and degree of improvement remains low, according to the analysts. The company's management noted an improvement in time to register firewall service contracts (down 25% from COVID peak) providing incremental confidence in an improvement in the firewall cycle. The analysts added that given the low visibility on Fortinet's near term/long term growth in firewall and uncertain success in SASE, SIEM, and endpoint, they see the shares as fairly valued at 23x CY24 adj. FCF. Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating and $85 price target on Fortinet saying that first quarter results were consistent with their checks suggesting a continuation of weak demand. But the stock is moving lower as results were ultimately below buy-side bogeys. However, analysts led by Adam Tindle said the story has largely been about finding a bottom after a massive boom/bust cycle for the company, and are hopeful that a -6% billings growth quarter proves to be just that. The analysts' checks have suggested that channel inventory is much cleaner than it has been in the past, meaning the inventory correction is arguably complete. Importance now shifts to the demand piece of the equation and this represents a turning point for the company, according to Tindle and his team. The analysts added that the risk/reward is favorable with the stock hovering near $60. Alternatively, the stock trades at about 7x EV/Revenue and low 20x EV/EBITDA on their updated 2025 estimates, which do not consider a full recovery to prior growth rates, and keeps them in the bull camp for now while acknowledging a very legitimate bear argument. William Blair, which has a Market Perform rating, believes Fortinet is nearing a transition point in the business where it is likely to show progress toward mid-single-digit billings re-acceleration but is still a ways away from returning to 20% or better billings growth. Analyst Jonathan Ho and his team see 2024 as a transition year when the company will have to go through a realignment process while still preserving 25% or better pro forma operating margins. Wedbush Securities maintained its Outperform rating on Fortinet, but lowered its price target on the shares to $78 from $86 reflecting softer billings results and a more appropriate multiple. Analyst Imtiaz \"Taz\" Koujalgi still believe Fortinet will see a growth turnaround over the next 6 to 12 months, but said that the company is navigating a choppy environment in the field. \"This will be a key few quarters for this story looking ahead as the cyber security landscape is seeing competition from all angles with the cloud and AI story complicating the competitive landscape,\" said Koujalgi and his team. Fortinet's (FTNT) has a Hold rating at Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating system, which consistently beats the market. The Seeking Alpha authors' average rating is more positive with a Buy, but the average Wall Street analysts' rating is Hold.","kind":null,"is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":null,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0},"commentList":[{"id":301982346104968,"gmtCreate":1714745581298,"gmtModify":1714745585445,"author":{"id":"3575426937784230","authorId":"3575426937784230","name":"MaxGain","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/1e7ec5528a5a65cfeab0826428adcb08","vip":1,"crmLevel":1,"crmLevelSwitch":0},"htmlText":"With a high interest over a longer period, the massive debt (a crazy P/B Ratio -107) that FTNT is carrying may just CRUSH the camel's back, sending it into a downward crash. Not sure if all the analyst have been drinking loads of 'KOOL AID' to have such a ludicrous positive outlook on this sinking ship.","listText":"With a high interest over a longer period, the massive debt (a crazy P/B Ratio -107) that FTNT is carrying may just CRUSH the camel's back, sending it into a downward crash. Not sure if all the analyst have been drinking loads of 'KOOL AID' to have such a ludicrous positive outlook on this sinking ship.","text":"With a high interest over a longer period, the massive debt (a crazy P/B Ratio -107) that FTNT is carrying may just CRUSH the camel's back, sending it into a downward crash. Not sure if all the analyst have been drinking loads of 'KOOL AID' to have such a ludicrous positive outlook on this sinking ship.","images":[],"top":1,"highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"link":"https://ttm.financial/post/301982346104968","repostId":2432970886,"repostType":2,"repost":{"id":"2432970886","pubTimestamp":1714742810,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/2432970886?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2024-05-03 21:26","market":"sg","language":"en","title":"Fortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2432970886","media":"seekingalpha","summary":"Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of t","content":"<html><body><p>Fortinet's (<span>NASDAQ:FTNT</span>) stock fell about <span>8%</span> premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of the cybersecurity and networking solutions provider.</p> <p>KeyBanc reiterated its Sector Weight rating on Fortinet noting<span> that the </span>first quarter<span> billings miss, and the second quarter billings </span>guidance<span> was below estimates, consistent with the firm's weaker checks and recently lowered estimates.</span></p> <p>Analysts led by Eric Heath said that the company's first quarter margins and free cash flow, or FCF, both saw solid beats. FY24 billings outlook was maintained despite the first quarter billings miss and second quarter billings outlook miss, implying a steeper second-half ramp.</p> <p>KeyBanc noted that the FY24 revenue/EBIT guidance was above estimates.</p> <p>While -18% year-over-year product growth and -6% billings growth this quarter likely set the trough of the firewall cycle, visibility into the timing and degree of improvement remains low, according to the analysts.</p> <p>The company's management noted an improvement in time to register firewall service contracts (down 25% from COVID peak) providing incremental confidence in an improvement in the firewall cycle.</p> <p>The analysts added that given the low visibility on Fortinet's near term/long term growth in firewall and uncertain success in SASE, SIEM, and endpoint, they see the shares as fairly valued at 23x CY24 adj. FCF.</p> <p>Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating and $85 price target on Fortinet saying that first quarter results were consistent with their checks suggesting a continuation of weak demand. But the stock is moving lower as results were ultimately below buy-side bogeys.</p> <p>However, analysts led by Adam Tindle said the story has largely been about finding a bottom after a massive boom/bust cycle for the company, and are hopeful that a -6% billings growth quarter proves to be just that.</p> <p>The analysts' checks have suggested that channel inventory is much cleaner than it has been in the past, meaning the inventory correction is arguably complete.</p> <p>Importance now shifts to the demand piece of the equation and this represents a turning point for the company, according to Tindle and his team.</p> <p>The analysts added that the risk/reward is favorable with the stock hovering near $60. Alternatively, the stock trades at about 7x EV/Revenue and low 20x EV/EBITDA on their updated 2025 estimates, which do not consider a full recovery to prior growth rates, and keeps them in the bull camp for now while acknowledging a very legitimate bear argument.</p> <p>William Blair, which has a Market Perform rating, believes Fortinet is nearing a transition point in the business where it is likely to show progress toward mid-single-digit billings re-acceleration but is still a ways away from returning to 20% or better billings growth.</p> <p>Analyst Jonathan Ho and his team see 2024 as a transition year when the company will have to go through a realignment process while still preserving 25% or better pro forma operating margins.</p> <p>Wedbush Securities maintained its Outperform rating on Fortinet, but lowered its price target on the shares to $78 from $86 reflecting softer billings results and a more appropriate multiple.</p> <p>Analyst Imtiaz \"Taz\" Koujalgi still believe Fortinet will see a growth turnaround over the next 6 to 12 months, but said that the company is navigating a choppy environment in the field.</p> <p>\"This will be a key few quarters for this story looking ahead as the cyber security landscape is seeing competition from all angles with the cloud and AI story complicating the competitive landscape,\" said Koujalgi and his team.</p> <p>Fortinet's (FTNT) has a Hold rating at Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating system, which consistently beats the market. The Seeking Alpha authors' average rating is more positive with a Buy, but the average Wall Street analysts' rating is Hold.</p> </body></html>","source":"seekingalpha","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Fortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nFortinet dips amid mixed Q1 with billings miss but Wall Street positive on future growth\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2024-05-03 21:26 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth><strong>seekingalpha</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"https://static.seekingalpha.com/cdn/s3/uploads/getty_images/1989493222/image_1989493222.jpg","relate_stocks":{"LU2023250843.SGD":"Allianz Thematica Cl AT Acc H2-SGD","LU2286300806.USD":"Allianz Cyber Security AT Acc USD","LU2106854487.HKD":"ALLIANZ THEMATICA \"AMG\" (HKD) INC","BK4585":"ETF&股票定投概念","LU0079474960.USD":"联博美国增长基金A","BK4097":"系统软件","LU2023250504.SGD":"Allianz Thematica Cl AMg DIS H2-SGD","BK4588":"碎股","BK4560":"网络安全概念","LU1974910355.USD":"Allianz Thematica Cl AMg DIS USD","LU1917777945.USD":"安联专题基金Cl AT Acc","FTNT":"飞塔信息","BK4532":"文艺复兴科技持仓"},"source_url":"https://seekingalpha.com/news/4099623-fortinet-dips-amid-mixed-q1-as-billings-miss-but-wall-street-positive-on-future-growth","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/5a36db9d73b4222bc376d24ccc48c8a4","article_id":"2432970886","content_text":"Fortinet's (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell about 8% premarket on Friday following its first quarter results, but KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James and Wedbush maintained their ratings on the shares of the cybersecurity and networking solutions provider. KeyBanc reiterated its Sector Weight rating on Fortinet noting that the first quarter billings miss, and the second quarter billings guidance was below estimates, consistent with the firm's weaker checks and recently lowered estimates. Analysts led by Eric Heath said that the company's first quarter margins and free cash flow, or FCF, both saw solid beats. FY24 billings outlook was maintained despite the first quarter billings miss and second quarter billings outlook miss, implying a steeper second-half ramp. KeyBanc noted that the FY24 revenue/EBIT guidance was above estimates. While -18% year-over-year product growth and -6% billings growth this quarter likely set the trough of the firewall cycle, visibility into the timing and degree of improvement remains low, according to the analysts. The company's management noted an improvement in time to register firewall service contracts (down 25% from COVID peak) providing incremental confidence in an improvement in the firewall cycle. The analysts added that given the low visibility on Fortinet's near term/long term growth in firewall and uncertain success in SASE, SIEM, and endpoint, they see the shares as fairly valued at 23x CY24 adj. FCF. Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating and $85 price target on Fortinet saying that first quarter results were consistent with their checks suggesting a continuation of weak demand. But the stock is moving lower as results were ultimately below buy-side bogeys. However, analysts led by Adam Tindle said the story has largely been about finding a bottom after a massive boom/bust cycle for the company, and are hopeful that a -6% billings growth quarter proves to be just that. The analysts' checks have suggested that channel inventory is much cleaner than it has been in the past, meaning the inventory correction is arguably complete. Importance now shifts to the demand piece of the equation and this represents a turning point for the company, according to Tindle and his team. The analysts added that the risk/reward is favorable with the stock hovering near $60. Alternatively, the stock trades at about 7x EV/Revenue and low 20x EV/EBITDA on their updated 2025 estimates, which do not consider a full recovery to prior growth rates, and keeps them in the bull camp for now while acknowledging a very legitimate bear argument. William Blair, which has a Market Perform rating, believes Fortinet is nearing a transition point in the business where it is likely to show progress toward mid-single-digit billings re-acceleration but is still a ways away from returning to 20% or better billings growth. Analyst Jonathan Ho and his team see 2024 as a transition year when the company will have to go through a realignment process while still preserving 25% or better pro forma operating margins. Wedbush Securities maintained its Outperform rating on Fortinet, but lowered its price target on the shares to $78 from $86 reflecting softer billings results and a more appropriate multiple. Analyst Imtiaz \"Taz\" Koujalgi still believe Fortinet will see a growth turnaround over the next 6 to 12 months, but said that the company is navigating a choppy environment in the field. \"This will be a key few quarters for this story looking ahead as the cyber security landscape is seeing competition from all angles with the cloud and AI story complicating the competitive landscape,\" said Koujalgi and his team. Fortinet's (FTNT) has a Hold rating at Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating system, which consistently beats the market. The Seeking Alpha authors' average rating is more positive with a Buy, but the average Wall Street analysts' rating is Hold.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"tweetType":1,"langContent":"EN"}],"isCommentEnd":false,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":1,"repostSize":1,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.24.0","shortVersion":"4.24.0","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2432970886"}