Fortinet shares fall after Barclays downgrades rating of cybersecurity firm

Investing.com -- Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock fell in early U.S. trading on Friday after analysts at Barclays downgraded their rating of the cybersecurity company to "equal weight" from "overweight."

In a note to clients, the analysts said their checks are sounding "incrementally negative" for the third quarter, adding that their billings estimates for the three-month period have been lowered "to the bottom half of the guide."

"Longer term, we like [Fortinet]'s platform approach and think the stock has terminal value, but we see a balanced risk/reward which underpins our Equal Weight rating," the analysts argued.

The company previously slashed its full-year revenue forecast in August, citing a cut-back in client spending on IT services due to stubbornly elevated inflation and higher interest rates.

California-based Fortinet said it now expects to post annual revenue of $5.35 billion to $5.45 billion. It had earlier projected $5.43B-$5.49B.