Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 3.540-3.580 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 3.380. The company issued revenue guidance of $8.1 billion-$8.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $8.1 billion. Fortinet also updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 0.930-0.950 EPS.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT opened at $138.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $171.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $73.55 and a 1 year high of $197.13.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software maker reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.96% and a return on equity of 182.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortinet will post 3.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC increased their price target on Fortinet from $102.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Fortinet from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore set a $165.00 price objective on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (down from $185.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total transaction of $507,568.23. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total transaction of $8,911,425.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,045,529.28. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034 in the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet reported third-quarter revenue of $2.08 billion, up approximately 20.5% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $0.91, exceeding the roughly $2.06 billion revenue and $0.86 EPS consensus estimates. Product revenue rose 37% to $765 million, billings increased 29% to $2.34 billion, and operating margins reached record levels. Fortinet Reports Strong Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its outlook. Fourth-quarter adjusted EPS is projected at $0.93-$0.95, above the $0.86 consensus, while full-year 2026 EPS guidance of $3.54-$3.58 exceeds the $3.38 estimate. Full-year revenue guidance of $8.1-$8.2 billion is approximately in line with expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cash generation remains a potential support: Fortinet produced $865 million of free cash flow in the quarter and expanded its share-repurchase authorization by $1.2 billion, leaving approximately $2 billion available. Fortinet adds $1.2 billion to its buyback program
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts have reduced price targets but remain divided. TD Cowen maintained a “buy” rating with a $190 target, while Barclays, Truist, Citigroup, Stifel, Scotiabank and others lowered targets or retained neutral-to-hold ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: Service revenue grew only 13% to $1.31 billion, far below product growth. Management also lowered its service-revenue outlook, raising concerns that customers are buying security hardware for AI infrastructure but delaying related recurring-service activations. Software stocks slide after Fortinet results
• Negative Sentiment: Fourth-quarter revenue guidance implies slower growth than in the latest quarter, while pricing benefits and lower-cost inventory are expected to normalize. Investors worry about margin pressure and weaker growth at Fortinet’s premium earnings multiple.
• Negative Sentiment: The selloff has intensified broader cybersecurity-sector weakness, with commentary from Jim Cramer favoring Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike over Fortinet. Jim Cramer Says Sell Fortinet

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments and operational technology systems. The company’s portfolio includes next-generation firewalls, secure networking products, endpoint security, web application security, email security, identity and access solutions, and security information and event management tools.

Its product offerings include FortiGate network security appliances and cloud-based firewalls, along with FortiSwitch, FortiAP and FortiExtender solutions for secure connectivity.