Why Subscription Growth, Cash Flow Mean Good Things For FireEye

In a report published Tuesday, Imperial Capital analyst Michael Kim upgraded the rating on

from In-Line to Outperform, while raising the price target from $45.50 to $55. The company reported its 2Q15 results ahead of the estimates and the consensus, while guiding to robust subscription growth and better than anticipated cash flow for 2015. "We believe FEYE is making significant progress on driving higher sales productivity and margin expansion, with operating cash flow tracking substantially ahead of our expectations," Kim said, adding that FireEye was "becoming a top-tier security vendor with ramping global adoption of the company's platform." The analyst expects the company to continue to gain market share from legacy vendors, driven by the multiple growth drivers offered by its endpoint products and network, and cloud solutions and services. According to the Imperial Capital report, "FEYE is achieving strong revenue and billings growth at scale, highlighting its ability to expand into existing customers and capture new customers." The analyst believes that the company would continue to strengthen its go-to-market capabilities, while adding channel partners and entering into more strategic relationships. The analyst also expects upside potential to growth from FireEye's rising international penetration. "At recent levels, we believe FEYE shares offer attractive appreciation potential and favorable risk/reward, as the stock trades at the lower end of similar high-growth security vendors," Kim added. The analyst believes that the recent departure of the CFO is not a matter of concern and that the company is likely to appoint a permanent CFO in the near furture. In addition, there does not appear to be any liquidity risks in the near term, following the issuance of convertible notes worth $920 million. The analyst expects FireEye to further consolidate the sector and to even acquire some innovative vendors in order to "further enhance its core platform."