Fortinet Gears Up to Report Q4 Earnings: How to Play the Stock

Fortinet FTNT is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 5, after market close.

The cybersecurity firm projects revenues between $1.825 billion and $1.885 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $1.86 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11.91%.

The company forecasts fourth-quarter non-GAAP earnings in the range of 73-75 cents per share. The consensus mark is pegged at 74 cents per share, unchanged from the year-ago quarter, suggesting limited bottom-line expansion.

Fortinet’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.67%.

Fortinet, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Fortinet, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Fortinet, Inc. Quote

Factors to Consider

Fortinet is expected to have navigated a transformative fourth quarter marked by strategic partnerships and product launches that are likely to have influenced both top-line growth and operational momentum. The cybersecurity giant forecasted billings in the range of $2.185 billion to $2.285 billion, reflecting around 12% growth at the midpoint. These guidance metrics set the stage for another period of measured but steady performance.

Several major announcements during the quarter are likely to impact results. In December, Fortinet unveiled its Secure AI Data Center solution in partnership with Arista Networks, deployed at Monolithic Power Systems. This integrated architecture combined ultra-low-latency networking with ASIC-accelerated firewalls, promising deployments up to 80% faster through zero-touch provisioning and HTTPS/TLS performance improvements of up to 33x with sub-microsecond latency. The solution addressed growing enterprise demand for AI infrastructure security, potentially contributing to both product revenues and competitive positioning.

Fortinet announced integration with NVIDIA BlueField-3 data processing units in mid-December, enabling FortiGate virtual firewalls to run directly on DPUs. This development allowed enterprises to offload security functions from host systems, addressing the expanding AI data center market. The November launch of the Crime Stoppers International Cybercrime Bounty program, while primarily reputation-enhancing, underscored Fortinet's leadership in public-private cybersecurity collaboration.

Management guided for fourth-quarter non-GAAP operating margins between 34.5% and 35.5%, representing slight sequential compression from the third quarter's record 37% margin. This anticipated moderation likely reflected planned infrastructure investments of $60 million to $110 million, supporting capacity expansion for cloud-delivered services and AI-related offerings. The company's rapidly growing FortiSASE platform, which demonstrated more than 100% year-over-year billing growth in the third quarter, is expected to have continued its momentum, though cloud service scaling typically carries different margin profiles than traditional hardware sales.

What Our Model Says

Per the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here.

FTNT has an Earnings ESP of -0.32% and carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies worth considering, as our model indicates that these possess the right combination of factors to exceed earnings expectations in their upcoming releases:

IPG Photonics IPGP is set to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 12. It has an Earnings ESP of +15.08% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IPG Photonics’ fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 25 cents per share, up by a penny over the past 30 days, indicating an increase of 38.9% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Shares of IPG Photonics have soared 31.7% over the past year.

MKS Inc. MKSI is set to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 17. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.68% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MKS’ fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $2.45 per share, up by 20 cents over the past 30 days, implying a rise of approximately 14% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Shares of MKS have surged 111.8% over the past 12 months.

Analog Devices, Inc. ADI is slated to report first-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 18. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.98% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Analog Devices’ first-quarter earnings is pegged at $2.30 per share, revised upward by 2 cents over the past 30 days, calling for a surge of 41.1% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Shares of Analog Devices have soared 51.5% over the past year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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