Why FireEye Shares Soared Today

Image source: FireEye.

What happened

Shares of cybersecurity specialist FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE) have soared today, up by 16% as of 12:05 p.m. EDT, after the company reported strong third-quarter earnings.

So what

Revenue in the third quarter rose 13% to $186.4 million, with billings growing a modest 2% to $215.4 million. That all translated into a non-GAAP net loss of $0.18 per share. Both top- and bottom-line results beat analyst expectations, which called for $182.6 million in sales and an adjusted loss of $0.31 per share. New CEO Kevin Mandia, who took the top spot a few months ago, said the company enjoyed strong demand for cloud-based email security and threat intelligence solutions, and subscription renewals were strong.

Now what

Mandia also pointed out that the solid execution was despite organizational restructurings taking place, as FireEye was in the midst of changing leadership within its sales organization. The company is also expanding its offerings with the announcements of Cloud MVX and MVX Smart Grid. As far as guidance is concerned, fourth-quarter revenue is expected in the range of $187 million to $193 million, with an adjusted net loss of $0.16 to $0.18. That forecast is slightly shy of consensus estimates, but investors are celebrating the third-quarter beat. With shares down nearly 40% year to date, a little optimism goes a long way.

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Evan Niu, CFA has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends FireEye. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.