UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Outperform Rating, Lowers PT on F5 Networks on Weak F2Q Results

In a report published Friday, BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long reiterated an Outperform rating on F5 Networks

, but lowered the price target from $120.00 to $90.00. In the report, Long noted, “F5 preannounced F2Q results that missed our/consensus expectations by a wide margin. The miss was predominantly driven by a spending slowdown in North America that was primarily attributed to weakness in the telco vertical as well as a subpar quarter from the US federal vertical. Revenue of $350M was below guidance of $370M-$380M and our $377M estimate. The sales shortfall was entirely product driven as services revenue was in line with our estimates. EPS of $1.07 was below our estimate of $1.23, mostly on top-line weakness as gross margins held up despite the miss.” F5 Networks closed on Thursday at $90.42.