Back to top

Image: Bigstock

What's in the Offing for Fortinet (FTNT) This Earnings Season?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2023 results after market close on May 4.

The cybersecurity firm projects revenues between $1.18 billion and $1.22 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $1.20 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 25.7%.

The company forecasts first-quarter non-GAAP earnings in the range of 27-29 cents per share. The consensus mark stands at 28 cents per share, implying growth of 47.4% from the year-ago figure of 25 cents.

Fortinet’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 15.8%.

Fortinet, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Fortinet, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Fortinet, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Fortinet, Inc. Quote

Factors to Consider

For the January-March quarter, Fortinet anticipates billings in the band of $1.415 billion-$1.465 billion. The heightened demand for its security and networking products amid the post-pandemic reality of remote working and the accelerated emergence of digital technologies might have benefited the to-be-reported quarter’s performance.

The rapid adoption of FortiGate-based secure Software-Defined Wide Area Network (“SD-WAN”) offerings is likely to have supported Fortinet’s Product segment. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Product revenues in the March-end quarter stands at $446 million, suggesting year-over-year growth of 20.2%.

FortiGuard security subscriptions and FortiCare technical support services are likely to have gained solid traction, favoring the company’s Services segment. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly Services revenues is pegged at $752 million, indicating a year-over-year improvement of 28.8%.

Fortinet’s first-quarter performance is likely to have gained from higher global cybersecurity spending. The growing adoption of SD-WAN solutions might have acted as a tailwind. Per MarketsandMarkets, the market size for SD-WAN solutions is likely to reach $13.7 billion by 2027 from $3.4 billion in 2022, witnessing a CAGR of 31.9% during the 2022-2032 period.

As one of the broadest security service providers globally, Fortinet’s FortiTrust, a unified solution with a single user-based licensing model for flexible consumption across networks, endpoints and clouds, has been witnessing solid traction. This might have driven the company’s private and public cloud billings.

However, softness in overall IT spending is likely to negatively impact Fortinet’s first-quarter results. Organizations are pushing back their big and expensive IT investments amid growing recessionary concerns.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Fortinet this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.

Though FTNT currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1, it has an Earnings ESP of -1.01%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Per our model, Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) , Skyworks Solutions (SWKS - Free Report) and Garmin (GRMN - Free Report) have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

Cisco carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has an Earnings ESP of +1.59%. The company is slated to report third-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 17. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 1.8%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSCO’s third-quarter earnings is pegged at 97 cents per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 11.5%. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $14.39 billion, suggesting a year-over-year increase of 12.1%.

Skyworks carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +0.45%. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 8. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the preceding four quarters, with the average surprise being 1.9%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Skyworks’ second-quarter earnings stands at $2.01 per share, implying a year-over-year decline of 23.6%. It is estimated to report revenues of $1.15 billion, which suggests a decrease of approximately 14% from the year-ago quarter.

Garmin is slated to report first-quarter 2023 results on May 3. The company has a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of +0.80% at present. Garmin’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the trailing four quarters while missing the same on one occasion, the average surprise being a negative 7.3%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GRMN’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.00 per share, suggesting a decline of 9.9% from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $1.11. Garmin’s quarterly revenues are estimated to decrease 7.9% year over year to $1.08 billion.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Published in