Tag Archives: stocks

Palo Alto Networks Gouges Cisco, Check Point, Fortinet: Survey

Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) gouged rivals Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ) during Q1, as Fortinet ( FTNT ) and Symantec ( SYMC ) demand toppled, according to a Piper Jaffray survey of 26 resellers and distributors. Meanwhile, cybersecurity vendors Imperva ( IMPV ) and FireEye ( FEYE ) improved on Q4 demand, and CyberArk Software ( CYBR ) and Proofpoint ( PFPT ) demand remained relatively stable. Cybersecurity stocks largely fell as of midday trading on the stock market today , with IBD’s 25-company Computer Software-Security industry group down nearly 1.5%. Proofpoint and Fortinet stocks led the plunge, both down more than 4% midday Tuesday. CyberArk stock was down more than 2%, and Palo Alto Networks stock was down more than 1%. Imperva was down more than 2.5%, and FireEye fell nearly 2%. Symantec and Check Point stocks bucked the trend, trading flat and up 1%, respectively. Check Point is losing to Palo Alto Networks, according to resellers surveyed by Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Nowinski, but half of the resellers cited Cisco as the rival Palo Alto Networks beats out most frequently. “Cisco and Check Point have consistently been called out by resellers as the vendors most frequently losing to Palo Alto,” Nowinski wrote in a research report. In Q4 and Q3, Juniper Networks was also cited by 13% and 18% of resellers as losing to Palo Alto Networks. “However, this is the first quarter resellers cited Fortinet as competition to Palo Alto, suggesting Fortinet may be moving more upstream into the mid-market enterprise space,” Nowinski wrote. Only 35% of resellers sold more Palo Alto Networks products than they expected, Nowinski wrote, down from 56% in Q4. The largest distributors say Palo Alto Networks demand trends were unchanged, he added. Imperva jumped in Q1, as 20% of resellers were above plan vs. 8% in Q4. And FireEye demand improved to 31% below plan from 36% in Q4. CyberArk and Proofpoint were largely in line. But Fortinet and Symantec declined. In Q1, 31% of Fortinet resellers were below plan vs. 14% in Q4. Symantec fell to 50% below plan vs. 29% in the prior quarter.

Adobe Systems Transition Earns Price-Target Hike From FBR

With its stock trading within shouting distance of its all-time high, Adobe Systems ( ADBE ) earned a price-target hike on Tuesday from investment bank FBR Capital Markets. Adobe stock was up a fraction to above 93 in midday trading on the stock market today . The provider of cloud-based media and marketing software hit a record high of 98 on March 18. It sports a good IBD Relative Strength Rating of 85, putting it among the top 15% of all stocks in performance the past 12 months. FBR analyst Samad Samana raised his price target on Adobe stock to 115 from 110 and reiterated his market perform rating. He predicts Adobe will see 20%-plus revenue growth and 30%-plus EPS growth for the next two years. Adobe has shifted its business from perpetual license software to software-as-a-service delivered over the Internet. “We believe the transition to a subscription model has yielded a more attractive business model,” Samana said. “We expect this to be reflected in fiscal 2016 and beyond.” Adobe has three cloud computing businesses: Creative Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Document Cloud. The biggest is Creative Cloud, which includes software for creative professionals such as Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Marketing Cloud provides online marketing and advertising services. Document Cloud leverages Adobe’s popular online document-sharing product Acrobat and its ubiquitous PDF format. The company’s Creative Cloud business earns most of the attention, but its Marketing Cloud is maturing at the right time, Samana said. “Digital marketing is at or near the top of the priority list for enterprises, and Adobe appears well positioned to help companies transform their businesses to be more engaging with end customers,” he said in a research report. Adobe should be able to continue posting healthy growth in the digital marketing business despite competition from Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Oracle ( ORCL ), Salesforce.com ( CRM ) and others, he said. RELATED: Adobe Driving Third Wave Of Enterprise Software Disruption

Juniper’s Q1 Miss Drags Down Networking Stocks; Chips Fall Too

When enterprise clients slow down purchases, and Internet service providers delay capital expenditures, Juniper Networks ( JNPR ) has a problem. The top computer-networking gear maker not named Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) pre-announced just such a first-quarter situation after the market close Monday, sending networking stocks lower Tuesday. Juniper stock was down more than 9% in morning trading in the stock market today , below 23, as at least three investment banks lowered their price target. Cisco stock was down 1%, near 27. The IBD Computer-Networking industry group was down 1.4%. Shares of  Arista Networks ( ANET ) and rival Brocade Communications Systems ( BRCD ) were each down 2%. Chips stocks weren’t faring much better. IBD’s Electronics-Semiconductor Manufacturing industry group was down 1% and had been down more than 4%, while the Electronics-Semiconductor Fabless group also was down 1%. Microsemi ( MSCC ) was down nearly 3%,  MaxLinear ( MXL ) 1%, and Inphi ( IPHI ) was weaker by more than 1% — though all had been down more than 3% earlier. FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi dropped his price target for Juniper stock to 25 from 27 and maintained a sector perform rating. “The primary reasons for the weakness include weaker-than-anticipated demand from enterprise (customers) and the timing of deployments of certain U.S. and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Tier 1 telecoms,” Seyrafi wrote in a research note Tuesday. “It is somewhat disappointing to see the weakness in EMEA telecoms (which was the case in fiscal Q4 as well), especially considering that in Q4, JNPR’s service provider segment grew by a strong 25% year over year and that JNPR had an easy compare in the Q1 service provider segment (where revenue declined 8% year over year the year before).” Seyrafi noted that AT&T ( T ) expects to grow capital expenditures 6% to $22 billion this year, while Verizon ( VZ ) implied a 3% decline in capex to a range of $17.2 billion to $17.8 billion. “So U.S.-based service providers will likely not be driving much growth for communication equipment suppliers this year,” he said. Juniper Notes March Rebound “We do think that Juniper felt what Cisco (outperform-rated) noted in February, namely that some customers paused to digest what was happening following financial market turbulence at the beginning of the year,” Seyrafi wrote. “However, we do note that financial markets rebounded in March, and JNPR CEO Rami Rahim stated that the company remains constructive on fiscal 2016 as the company expects new products to add to growth while the company maintains ongoing focus on cost discipline.” Juniper said that it expects to report earnings per share minus items of 35 cents to 37 cents, down from its prior guidance of 42-46 cents. Wall Street had expected 43-44 cents, up 34% to 38% from Q1 2015. Juniper’s new midpoint, 36 cents, would be up 12%. Juniper expects Q1 revenue of $1.09 billion to $1.10 billion, down from its prior guidance of $1.15 billion to $1.19 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected $1.16 billion, up 8.4%. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper is set to release full Q1 results after the close April 28. William Blair analyst Jason Ader maintained his outperform rating on Juniper stock but “modestly lowered” full-year estimates for 2016 and 2017. Analyst Alex Henderson at Needham reiterated his hold rating and said that he’s “firmly on the sidelines,” as he too trimmed estimates. “While we see Juniper as one of the weaker companies in our coverage, there could be read-throughs to other names such as Cisco, F5 Networks ( FFIV ) and Viavi ( VIAV ),” Henderson said in a Tuesday research note. “We think Arista and Gigamon ( GIMO ) are likely to be able to power through the choppy environment. Given the magnitude of the (Juniper) top-line miss, we think estimates for Q2 will have to be ratcheted back as well.” F5 stock was down 2% Tuesday morning, while Gigamon was down 1% and Viavi Solutions off 1.5%.