What Is Driving Fortinet’s Earnings?
Shares of Fortinet soared in the wake of better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
[cnxvideo id=”509735″ placement=”ros”]When Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) reported its fourth-quarter financial results on Thursday, the company posted $0.30 in earnings per share (EPS) on $362.8 million in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $0.21 in EPS and revenue of $352.4 million. The same period of last year had EPS of $0.18 and $296.5 million in revenue.
Deferred revenue for the quarter totaled $1.04 billion, which was up 31% from the same period last year. Total deferred revenue increased by $100.6 million, compared to $934.8 million as of September 30, 2016.
At the same time, total billings were $463.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, an increase of 22% compared to $380.9 million in the same quarter of 2015.
In terms of the revenue breakdown the company reported:
- Product revenues totaled $158.93 million.
- Service revenues totaled $203.91 million.
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For the quarter, free cash flow totaled $84.2 million. On the books, Fortinet’s cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $1.31 billion at the end of the quarter.
Ken Xie, founder, board chair and chief executive, commented:
We are pleased with our strong finish to 2016, demonstrating our strong technology advantage and revenue growth. Our ability to provide a broad, powerful, and automated Security Fabric that protects all points in the network, from IoT to cloud, sets Fortinet apart. This technology advantage, combined with improvements in sales execution delivered strong results in the mid to large enterprise segments of the market and positions us well for future growth.
Shares of Fortinet were last seen up 14% to $37.88 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $35.48 and a 52-week trading range of $23.16 to $37.98.
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Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
