What Is Behind The Move In Fortinet Stock?
For questions about this article or underlying research, email help@trefis.com.
Fortinet (FTNT) stock dropped 20.1% on Thursday, October 29, 2026, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%. The fall occurred during the first session after the cybersecurity company reported its third-quarter results following the market close on Wednesday, October 28. Those numbers beat analyst estimates for both adjusted earnings per share and revenue. So which part of the quarter disappointed?
Fortinet Beat On Both Lines, But Services Lagged
News reports linked the fall to concerns over slowing growth. During the third quarter, Fortinet saw its services business expand far more slowly than its product sales. Service revenue rose 13%, compared with 37% growth in product revenue. Total revenue grew 20%, down from the prior quarter’s 25.6%. Fortinet also lowered its full-year forecast for services revenue, even as it raised its overall outlook.
Growth that leans on one line of business holds only while that line keeps selling. Consider Tesla, which got 98% of last quarter’s deliveries from the Model 3 or Model Y as deliveries fell two years in a row. Its deliveries are up 8.8% this year through September, but nearly all still come from those two cars. Read Trefis Big Story: How Tesla Blundered.
Management said services were held back by new large enterprise customers whose services are switched on in stages, and by large expansion deals that folded existing service contracts into enterprise agreements. Management still believes the first quarter of 2026 was the low point for services revenue growth, pointing to service billings, which grew 26%.
Adjusted earnings per share came to $0.91, beating the $0.86 estimate. Revenue reached $2.08 billion, finishing above the $2.06 billion analysts expected.
Did Fortinet Fall Alone On Thursday?
No, but it fell much further than the stocks around it. The technology sector fund XLK lost 1.2% that session, and the Nasdaq Composite index lost 1.4%. Every company on Fortinet’s Trefis peer list fell as well, with Palo Alto Networks down 3.5% and CrowdStrike down 2.1%.
News reports said software stocks tumbled in premarket trading on Thursday after disappointing results from Fortinet and ServiceNow, deepening worries about AI disruption in the sector. These reports also said tech stocks slid across the globe after earnings from Google and Samsung revived worries about how companies can make money from AI.
Still, Fortinet’s drop was nearly six times the fall at Palo Alto Networks, which fell the most of any company on that list. The peer group slipped, but most of Fortinet’s move belonged to the company alone.
Where Does Fortinet Stock Stand After The Drop?
Fortinet recorded no fall this large in any session over the prior 365 days. Its biggest one-day move during that time was a 20.0% gain on May 7, 2026.
Even with Thursday’s drop, the stock remains up 62.0% over the past 12 months, against 13.3% for the S&P 500. That climb occurred after April 30: from then to October 29, the shares rose 65.0%. Over the past year, the stock closed as low as $75.23 on February 24, 2026, and as high as $194.75 on October 9. The shares have lost 22.2% since September 30, settling at Thursday’s close of $139.10.
Fortinet is expected to report its fourth-quarter 2026 results in February 2027, and service revenue growth is the measure to watch then.
What Would Another Fall In Fortinet Do To Your Plan?
A fall hurts most when one stock is a large part of what you own, and selling it to spread the risk can bring a large tax bill. Our partner advisory firm offers a free strategy review of ways to put a floor under a large position and unwind it with less tax.
Request A Free Strategy Review
Spot an error or want more like this? Tell us in 10 seconds.