(Reuters) – Cybersecurity firm Fortinet raised its annual revenue forecast on Tuesday, as companies spend more on safeguarding their digital assets and operations against cyberattacks.
Shares of the company rose 8% in trading after the closing bell.
The recent surge in data theft and hacking incidents, which have grown more sophisticated as hackers use widely available AI-powered tools to breach defenses and steal information, has prompted governments and companies to invest in cybersecurity solutions.
The spending by clients has resulted in strong demand for cybersecurity software sold by Fortinet and rivals Palo Alto Networks and Crowdstrike Holdings.
Earlier on Tuesday, Fortinet said it has acquired Next DLP, an insider risk and data protection platform.
Last week, the company announced it has completed the acquisition of Lacework, a cloud security and cloud-native application protection platform. The acquisition will allow Fortinet to provide a comprehensive, full-stack AI-driven cloud security platform.
The cybersecurity firm sees revenue for fiscal year 2024 between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion, up from its earlier forecast of $5.75 billion to $5.85 billion. Analysts on average expect $5.79 billion in revenue, according to LSEG data.
The company expects to generate revenue in the range of $1.45 billion to $1.51 billion in the third quarter, while analysts expect $1.47 billion.
Fortinet posted revenue of $1.43 billion for the second-quarter ended June 30, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Adjusted profit in the quarter came in at 57 cents per share, compared to 38 cents per share a year ago.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
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