Scotiabank Issues Optimistic Estimate for Fortinet Earnings

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) – Scotiabank upped their FY2027 EPS estimates for shares of Fortinet in a research note issued on Thursday, October 1st. Scotiabank analyst P. Colville now expects that the software maker will earn $3.42 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.95. Scotiabank has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $163.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fortinet’s current full-year earnings is $3.10 per share.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on FTNT. Zacks Research raised Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Fortinet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Fortinet from $186.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.79.

Fortinet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $189.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.65, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $192.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the second quarter valued at $9,561,650,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,432,842,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth about $979,062,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $788,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth about $656,852,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

More Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher earnings forecasts: Scotiabank raised its Fortinet FY2026 EPS estimate to $3.10 from $2.77 and its FY2027 estimate to $3.42 from $2.95. The firm maintained a “Sector Perform” rating and a $163 price target. Scotiabank Has Strong Forecast for Fortinet FY2027 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Potential earnings beat: Zacks included FTNT among five highly ranked stocks considered likely to exceed consensus earnings estimates in their upcoming reports, supporting expectations for continued operating momentum. Looking for Earnings Beat? Buy These 5 Top-Ranked Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Industrial cybersecurity expansion: Rockwell Automation is adding managed services supporting Fortinet firewalls, potentially expanding Fortinet’s reach among manufacturing and operational-technology customers. Rockwell Automation Expands SecureOT Managed Services
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative investment appeal: A comparison with CrowdStrike highlights that both cybersecurity stocks are near 52-week highs, with valuation and earnings-estimate trends likely to determine which has greater upside. CrowdStrike vs. Fortinet: Which Cybersecurity Stock Is Poised for Higher Highs?
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns: Analysts question whether Fortinet’s future cash generation can support a multiyear share-price surge. With a price-to-earnings ratio near 67 and Scotiabank’s $163 target below the market price, profit-taking and caution may be weighing on FTNT. Can Fortinet Stay Fully Priced on Future Cash Flow?

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc develops and provides cybersecurity products and services for businesses, governments, and service providers. The company’s portfolio is designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments, and operational technology from cyber threats.

Its offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiSASE secure access service edge solutions. Fortinet also provides centralized management and analytics through products such as FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, along with security operations, threat intelligence, and other subscription-based services through its FortiGuard portfolio.

Founded in 2000, Fortinet serves customers globally through direct sales, channel partners, and managed security service providers.