Stockchase Opinions

Degas Wright, CEO, Decatur Capital Fortinet Inc FTNT-Q BUY Nov 11, 2022

Palo Alto vs. Fortinet The cybersecurity business is growing 9% annually. Palo is moving towards a higher-margin subscription business, which translates into 25% earnings growth each year. A concern though is that Palo became profitable only in the last quarter. So, he prefers Fortinet which has been profitable since 2016.
$55.780

Stock price when the opinion was issued

Technology
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HOLD

Hold for now, but he wouldn't hold it going into earnings, estimated to be August 2. Management is tremendous, but very conservative, and they lowball numbers and then stock rolls over.

If you ever get a chance to buy CRWD, that's a good one in the space.

BUY

Trades at 30x forward PE and 33% free cash flow margins. Super fundamentals, and yet shares are ignored. This outage could help Fortinet shares.

TRADE
Investor is still down after 3 years, looking to exit.

Chart's moving sideways. Support ~$50, resistance ~$75-80. He likes this kind of stock for a trade. Based on past history, decent chance it will make it to the top of the range. No dividend.

BUY

Cybersecurity stocks are back today. Don't trade, but invest in cyber. He's very bullish cybersecurity. Of the big three, though, Fortinet has the best balance sheet in the sector.

DON'T BUY

Company has been doing better. Would prefer a company called Palo Alto. Valuation very high, even though tech is strong. Better options for investors in the markets. 

PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Sep 14/23, Up 21%)

Took profit on the spike of a few weeks ago. Likes the space in general and its long-term potential. Can't get away from the growing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks around the world.

BUY

He still owns it, one of the best performers over the summer. Conservative in reporting, taken to the woodshed for that, but has come back very well. 

SELL

He took profits and switched to CRWD on its weakness. Really likes the space; attacks are only going to get more plentiful and more challenging. It's more expensive for companies to suffer attacks than to pay a company for cybersecurity. Looks decent technically, wants to see profits. If it corrects nicely, he'd look at it again.

BUY

Cybersecurity demand remains entrenched. This has the strongest balance sheet compared to PANW and CRWD.

TOP PICK
Right at the centre of the cybersecurity ecosystem.

Looks cheaper than others due to the very conservative nature of management, they always sandbag the earnings. His 12-month price target is $117. International. Hardware and software licenses, which make it a little bit different. Really, really likes it. No dividend.

(Analysts’ price target is $100.79)