What happened
Investors were clamoring for a piece of the cybersecurity developer Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) this morning after the company reported impressive fourth-quarter results. Management is also optimistic about Fortinet's upcoming quarter, which contributed to the positive investor sentiment this morning
The cybersecurity stock was up 12.5% as of 10:52 a.m. ET.
So what
Fortinet reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.44 in Q4, up 76% from the year-ago period and surpassing analysts' average estimate of $0.39 per share.
Revenue rose 33% year over year, to $1.28 billion. While it was an impressive gain, the figure was slightly lower than Wall Street's consensus estimate of $1.29 billion for the quarter.
But investors didn't seem to mind that slight miss and instead focused on the company's earnings and the fact that Fortinet posted its 14th consecutive year of GAAP profitability.
Fortinet's management said on the company'searnings callthat a surge in devices connected to the cloud has resulted in a boost in the company's security business. "It is no longer feasible to overlay security on top of networking in the data center. They must be deployed as a converged solution," CFO Keith Jensen said.
He added that the company is leading in the security "convergence trend" with its wide range of technologies that are embedded in its security operating system and noted that the success of the company's strategy resulted in 2022 billings climbing 34% to $5.6 billion.
And there could be more good times ahead, according to management. "Given our cost-for-performance advantage, the convergence of security and networking, and the consolidation of products and vendors, we expect to continue our solid growth trajectory," Fortinet founder and CEO Ken Xie said in a press release.
Now what
Investors were also likely very happy with Fortinet's outlook for the first quarter.
At the midpoint of guidance, management expects earnings of $0.28 per share, just ahead of analysts' average estimate of $0.27. The company's estimated revenue of $1.2 billion for the first quarter is also above Wall Street's consensus estimate of $1.18 billion.
With impressive fourth-quarter results and strong guidance for the first quarter, it's no surprise to see investors pushing up Fortinet's share price today.
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Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Fortinet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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