TLDR
- Fortinet (FTNT) shares rose 2.8% in premarket trading following Q4 2025 results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
- The company reported adjusted EPS of $0.81 versus the $0.74 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.91 billion.
- Billings increased 18% year-over-year to $2.37 billion, surpassing the $2.24 billion analyst forecast.
- The board authorized an additional $1 billion for share buybacks, bringing total authorization to $10.25 billion.
- First-quarter 2026 revenue guidance of $1.70-$1.76 billion beat expectations despite ongoing tech sector volatility.
Fortinet delivered a strong finish to 2025 with fourth-quarter results that topped analyst estimates. The cybersecurity provider saw shares gain ground Friday despite weakness across the technology sector.
The stock advanced 2.8% to $81.11 before the market opened. S&P 500 futures remained flat after the index fell 1.2% Thursday.
Adjusted earnings came in at $0.81 per share for the quarter. Analysts had expected $0.74 per share, making this a 9.5% beat.
Fortinet FTNT stock rose 2.8% premarket after posting Q4 earnings of $0.81 per share on $1.91B revenue, topping estimates as billings grew 18% to $2.37B.
Billings reached $2.37 billion, up 18% year-over-year. This figure topped the $2.24 billion consensus by a healthy margin.
SASE Business Shows Momentum
The company’s Unified SASE segment posted 40% billings growth. This cloud-based security solution is becoming a larger part of the business mix.
Product revenue jumped 20% to $691 million. Service revenue continued to make up the bulk of total sales.
For the full year, Fortinet generated $6.80 billion in revenue. That marked 14% growth compared to 2024.
Operating margin on a non-GAAP basis hit 35% for 2025. The company produced $2.21 billion in free cash flow during the year.
CEO Ken Xie highlighted the company’s firewall market position. Fortinet holds 55% unit market share in the firewall category, making it the clear leader.
Guidance Tops Estimates
Management provided first-quarter 2026 guidance that beat on the top line. Revenue is expected to fall between $1.70 billion and $1.76 billion.
Billings should range from $1.77 billion to $1.87 billion. Both metrics exceeded what analysts had penciled in.
Earnings per share guidance of $0.59 to $0.63 came in a touch light at the midpoint. However, the strong revenue outlook overshadowed this minor miss.
For the full year 2026, the company sees revenue of $7.50 billion to $7.70 billion. It expects billings between $8.40 billion and $8.60 billion.
The board approved expanding the share repurchase program by $1 billion. Total authorization now reaches $10.25 billion through February 2027.
About $1.38 billion remained available under the buyback plan as of February 4. That figure includes the newly approved $1 billion increase.
Resilience in Tough Market
Fortinet’s results come during a challenging stretch for tech stocks. Shares had dropped 2.9% from Tuesday’s open through Thursday’s close.
Other technology companies including Alphabet, AMD, and Amazon posted disappointing results this week. Concerns about AI spending and slowing growth have pressured the sector.
Cybersecurity stocks may prove more resilient than other tech categories. Enterprise demand for security software typically holds steady even when IT budgets tighten.
The stock now trades at under 27 times projected 2026 earnings. That valuation looks reasonable compared to cybersecurity peers.
Fortinet announced several partnerships during the quarter. The company is working with NVIDIA on AI infrastructure security solutions.
It also earned recognition as a Google Unified Security Recommended partner. Google selected FortiSASE and FortiGate NGFW for network protection on Google Cloud.
The FortiGate Rugged series won a 2025 Red Dot Product Design Award. This marks back-to-back years Fortinet has received this design honor.
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