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Why Fortinet Stock Could Rally Further Despite COVID-19 Crisis

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Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT - Free Report) is currently one of the top performing stocks in the technology sector. The stock’s share-price rally and strong fundamentals highlight its bullish run. Therefore, if you haven’t taken advantage of the share-price appreciation yet, it’s time you add the stock to your portfolio.

The company has performed brilliantly, so far this year, and has the potential to carry on the momentum in the near term.

Why an Attractive Pick?

Share-Price Appreciation: The company’s price trend reflects that the stock has had an impressive run on the bourse year to date. Shares of Fortinet have rallied 36.6% comparing favorably with the S&P 500’s loss of 1.4%.

Solid Rank & Growth Score: Fortinet currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) and has a Growth Score of B. Our research shows that stocks with a Growth Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 (Buy), offer the best investment opportunities for investors. Thus, the company appears to be a compelling investment proposition at the moment. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Northward Estimate Revisions: One analyst has revised upward its estimate for the current year over the past 60 days versus no southward revisions, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the company. Over the same period, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has moved 2.2% north.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: Fortinet has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company outpaced estimates in the trailing four quarters, delivering an average positive earnings surprise of 16.1%.
 

Solid Growth Prospects: The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.81 for 2020 earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 13.8%. Moreover, earnings are expected to register 17.8% growth in 2021. The stock has expected long-term earnings per share growth rate of 14%.

Growth Drivers: Fortinet is a provider of network security appliances and Unified Threat Management (UTM) network security solutions to enterprises, service providers and government entities worldwide.

Fortinet is benefiting from the rising demand for security and networking products amid the coronavirus crisis as a huge global workforce is working remotely now. However, more people logging into employers' networks means a greater need for security. This trend is spurring demand for Fortinet’s products.

Fortinet is also gaining from its dominance in the UTM space, which is one of the fastest-evolving segments in the network security space. Moreover, the company is benefiting from the rising cyber-attack risks that are propelling demand for its FortiMail platform.

Additionally, growing adoption of Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solutions could be a key growth driver for Fortinet over the long run. Market research firm, MarketsandMarkets, predicts that the market size for SD-WAN solutions could grow to $4.1 billion by 2023 from $1 billion in 2018, indicating a CAGR of 32.7%. As there are only few vendors that offer security and SD-WAN solutions, Fortinet is well positioned to capitalize on the increasing opportunities in the market.

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Zoom Video Communications (ZM - Free Report) , QuinStreet (QNST - Free Report) and Synaptics (SYNA - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 and carrying a Growth Score of A.

The long-term earnings per share growth rate for Zoom Video Communications, QuinStreet and Synaptics is pegged at 25%, 25% and 10%, respectively.

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