Fortinet Stock Plunges 22%, Wiping Out $28 Billion, After Services Revenue Forecast Cut
The cybersecurity vendor trimmed its services outlook a day after strong results, and BofA downgraded the shares to Neutral.
Fortinet shares plunged 21.63% to $136.42 in Thursday trading, as of 9:52 a.m. ET, erasing $28 billion in market value. The sell-off came the session after the company trimmed its 2026 services revenue forecast, even as it raised its billings outlook.
A services cut inside a strong report
Fortinet, which sells cybersecurity products combining networking and security through its Security Fabric platform, said on Wednesday it raised its billings outlook for a third time. Firewall sales rose 37%, and it added $1.2 billion to its buyback authorization.
Third-quarter free cash flow was $865 million, up 52% from a year earlier. Within the same update, Fortinet lowered its 2026 services revenue outlook to $5.15 billion–$5.17 billion, from $5.18 billion–$5.22 billion.
The cut pulled peers down: CrowdStrike, Okta and Palo Alto Networks each fell more than 6%. Fortinet was on pace for its biggest one-day drop in at least 275 trading sessions, since Sept. 25, 2025.
Analysts cut targets, BofA downgrades
BofA downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy with a $140 price target. Mizuho cut its target to $118 from $160, and Piper Sandler to $140 from $175.
A 119% run left little room
Fortinet shares were up about 119% year to date as of Wednesday's close, far ahead of the S&P 500's gain of about 13%. Cybersecurity stocks had been major beneficiaries of the AI trade in recent weeks, as growing use of AI agents lifted demand for security and authentication tools.
Fortinet's end-customers include enterprises, service providers and government organizations in over 100 countries. It reported total revenue of $6.80 billion for 2025.
After the drop, Fortinet's market value stood at $100.1 billion in Thursday morning trading.
Sources
- Fortinet drags down cybersecurity stocks as the company's service revenue forecast misses estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Fortinet’s stock is taking a dive after earnings. Here’s why. — MarketWatch
- FTNT Stock On Track To Revisit May Levels Despite Strong Earnings — Analysts Flag Slowing Product Growth, Services Headwinds — Yahoo Finance
- Fortinet falls despite strong Q3 results and higher guidance | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Why Is Fortinet Stock Falling Thursday? — benzinga.com
- The company's filing (Fortinet) — SEC filing
- Fortinet — Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-06-30 (quarterly results) — SEC EDGAR
