Fortinet (FTNT) Stock Rises After Beating Q4 Earnings Expectations

TLDR

• Fortinet (FTNT) stock rose 2.8% in premarket trading after reporting Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share, beating analyst expectations of $0.74 per share.
• Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 15% year-over-year to $1.91 billion, topping the $1.86 billion forecast.
• Billings surged 18% to $2.37 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s $2.24 billion estimate.
• The company expanded its share repurchase program by $1 billion, bringing total authorization to $10.25 billion through February 2027.
• Fortinet guided Q1 2026 revenue between $1.70 billion and $1.76 billion, slightly beating expectations despite mixed earnings guidance.

Fortinet stock climbed Friday morning despite a rough week for tech stocks. The cybersecurity company delivered fourth-quarter results that topped analyst estimates across key metrics.

Shares gained 2.8% to $81.11 in premarket trading. This move bucked the broader market trend as S&P 500 futures remained flat following Thursday’s 1.2% drop.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share for Q4 2025. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.74 per share by nearly 10%.

Fortinet, Inc., FTNT

Revenue rose 15% year-over-year to $1.91 billion. Analysts had projected $1.86 billion.

Billings came in at $2.37 billion, up 18% from the prior year. Wall Street expected $2.24 billion. Billings serve as a leading indicator for future revenue in the cybersecurity sector.

Product revenue grew 20% to $691 million. Unified SASE billings jumped 40%, showing strong demand for the company’s cloud-based security solutions.

Guidance Beats Despite Tech Selloff

Fortinet issued first-quarter guidance that topped revenue expectations. The company projects revenue between $1.70 billion and $1.76 billion.

It also expects billings between $1.77 billion and $1.87 billion, beating analyst forecasts. However, the midpoint of its earnings guidance of $0.59 to $0.63 per share came in slightly below expectations.

For full-year 2026, Fortinet guided revenue between $7.50 billion and $7.70 billion. It expects billings of $8.40 billion to $8.60 billion.

The company posted a non-GAAP operating margin of 37% in Q4. Full-year non-GAAP operating margin reached 35%.

Fortinet generated $2.21 billion in free cash flow for 2025. The company exceeded its “Rule of 45” metric for the sixth straight year, combining revenue growth and profit margins.

Expanded Buyback Program

The company announced a $1 billion expansion of its share repurchase program. Total authorization now stands at $10.25 billion through February 2027.

As of February 4, approximately $1.38 billion remained available under the program. This includes the new $1 billion increase.

Fortinet shares had dropped 2.9% since Tuesday’s market open ahead of the earnings release. Tech stocks took a beating this week on concerns about artificial intelligence valuations and disappointing results from Alphabet, AMD, and Amazon.

The cybersecurity sector may dodge the worst of the selloff. Demand for security software holds up better during economic slowdowns than other tech categories.

Fortinet now trades at less than 27 times expected 2026 earnings. That valuation looks cheap compared to other cybersecurity names.

CEO Ken Xie highlighted the company’s firewall leadership in a statement. Fortinet holds 55% unit market share in the firewall segment.

The company announced partnerships with NVIDIA for AI infrastructure security and received recognition as a Google Unified Security Recommended partner. It also won a 2025 Red Dot Product Design Award for its FortiGate Rugged series.

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