FireEye Has 'Darker Days' Ahead, Dan Ives Warns

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  • FireEye Inc FEYE shares have lost 8 percent year-to-date, and have been declining after hitting a high of $54.23 on June 18.
  • FBR & Co’s Daniel H. Ives downgraded the rating on the company from Outperform to Market Perform, while reducing the price target from $53 to $28.
  • The company has reported soft 3Q results and weak 4Q outlook, and the execution and product issues it is facing are likely to continue going ahead, Ives mentioned.

Analyst Daniel H. Ives said that FireEye has been through a “roller coaster ride” over the past 18 months. Given the weak 3Q15 results and 4Q15 outlook, it seems like CEO DeWalt and the FireEye growth story have “run into a brick wall.”

FireEye did generate 45 percent top-line growth and is witnessing a relatively healthy deal flow. Ives added, however, that FireEye is faced with several company-specific execution issues as well as product issues, which are resulting in decelerating growth prospects heading into 2016, despite “massive cybersecurity tailwinds.”

“We incorrectly believed based on our analysis that FireEye would be able to successfully integrate Mandiant into the fold and build out its product portfolio/distribution into a formidable leader in the white-hot cybersecurity space without major execution issues; we were proven wrong last night,” Ives wrote.

FireEye has been citing issues like slowdown in China, weakness in Europe and a tough macro environment for its dismal performance. The analyst pointed out, however, that execution and product challenges are not “fixable overnight” and are likely to “cause more pain ahead.”

Revising Estimates

The total revenue estimate for 4Q15 has been reduced from $199.6 million to $185.3 million, to reflect execution and growth challenges. The pro forma EPS estimate for the quarter has been raised marginally from ($0.39) to ($0.38), to reflect lower expenses. The total revenue and pro forma EPS estimates for FY16 have been reduced from $877.7 million and to $824.1 million and from ($1.25) to ($1.42), respectively.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorDowngradesPrice TargetAnalyst RatingsDaniel H. IvesFBR & Co
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