Fortinet Stock Rises After Earnings Beat. Why It Can Dodge the Tech Selloff. -- Barrons.com

By George Glover

Fortinet stock was edging higher Friday, defying a broader market slump after the cybersecurity provider reported better-than-expected earnings and issued solid guidance.

Shares climbed 2.8% to $81.11 in premarket trading. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were flat, after the benchmark index dropped 1.2% the previous session.

Fortinet late Thursday reported adjusted earnings of 81 cents a share for the fourth quarter, as revenue rose 15% from a year ago to $1.91 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of 74 cents a share on revenue of $1.86 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

Billings, a leading indicator measuring cybersecurity companies' sales growth, also topped expectations. Fortinet reported that billings rose 18% from a year ago to $2.37 billion, beating the $2.24 billion Wall Street was looking for.

For the current quarter, Fortinet expects earnings of 59 cents to 63 cents a share. At the midpoint, that's a touch below what analysts had forecast. The company guided for first-quarter revenue of between $1.70 billion and $1.76 billion and billings of between $1.77 billion and $1.87 billion, beating expectations.

Heading into the earnings report, Fortinet shares were down 2.9% since the market opened on Tuesday. Tech stocks have taken a beating this week, slumping due to worries about artificial intelligence and so-so earnings from Google owner Alphabet, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, and online retailer Amazon.com.

Still, there's reason to believe Fortinet could avoid the worst of the chaos. Demand for cybersecurity isn't particularly vulnerable to a weakening economy, so soft data like Thursday's initial jobless claims figures shouldn't weigh on the shares.

Following the recent selloff, the stock is trading at less than 27 times expected earnings for 2026, making it a lot cheaper than other cybersecurity names.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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February 06, 2026 04:58 ET (09:58 GMT)

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