FireEye Quarterly Revenue More Than Doubles

Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) forecast quarterly revenue largely below average analyst expectation as customers increasingly shifted to subscription-based products, away from on-premise equipment that brought in revenue upfront.

FireEye shares were down 22 percent in after-market trading.

The company said it expects revenue of $135 million-$147 million for the fourth quarter ending December.

Analysts on average were expecting $144.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

There has been "a mix change in product and product subscriptions," Chief Executive David DeWalt told Reuters.

More clients were moving to FireEye's cloud-based services, which bring in less money upfront but assures a steady stream of subscription revenue.

Governments and businesses subscribe to FireEye's products to monitor, alert and act against hacking into company networks.

FireEye, Fortinet Inc and Palo Alto Networks Inc are benefiting from higher spending on cybersecurity following high profile attacks on companies such as Target Corp , Home Depot Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The company now expects full-year revenue of $418-$430 million, compared with its prior forecast of $423-$430 million. Analysts were expecting $428.4 million.

FireEye's revenue rose 168 percent to $114.2 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, falling short of analysts' estimate of $116 million.

Excluding items, the company reported a loss of 51 cents per share - better than the loss of 55 cents per share analysts predicted.

The net loss attributable to shareholders widened to $120 million, or 83 cents per share from $50.9 million, or $1.61 per share, a year earlier.

Expenses more than doubled as the company spent more on sales and marketing and hiring sales representatives.

Shares of the company closed at $34.25 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. The stock had a strong run-up from its IPO last September until March, nearing $100 a share from an IPO price of $20 after the cyber-attack at retailer Target. It has retreated since but is still 71 percent above its IPO price.

(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee and Ankit Ajmera in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)