Is Fortinet Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?

Is Fortinet Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?

Aritra Gangopadhyay

Wed, September 9, 2026 at 12:03 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• FTNT +0.96%
• ^GSPC -0.59%

Sunnyvale, California-based Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. The company has a market cap of $114.7 billion and offers FortiOS, a unified operating system designed to address cybersecurity threats; FortiASIC, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-based security processing units; FortiCloud, a private cloud software-as-a-service platform; FortiAI; among other offerings.

Companies with a market cap of $10 billion or more are typically referred to as "large-cap stocks." FTNT fits perfectly into that category, with its market cap exceeding this threshold and reflecting its substantial size and influence in the software infrastructure industry.

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Despite its strength, FTNT stock slipped 9.4% from its 52-week high of $173.89, reached on Aug. 27. The stock is up 10.1% over the past three months, rallying the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 3.6% rise during the same time frame.

Moreover, the scenario stays the same in the longer term. The stock has grown 96% over the past 52 weeks, while SPX delivered 18.1% returns over the same time frame, underperforming the stock.

FTNT has been trading above its 200-day moving average since April, indicating bullish momentum, but below its 50-day moving average since the start of this month.

On Aug. 27, FTNT stock rose 9.7% following the announcement of the company achieving Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2, assessed by an Authorized CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). This new certification validates the company's implementation of 110 security requirements that are aligned with NIST SP 800-171 Revision 2, intended for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information within its assessed environment. FTNT's new certification comes as a massive step towards the company's commitment to strengthening cybersecurity, while providing customers, government contractors, and partners with independent validation of its security practices.

When stacked against its rival, Cloudflare, Inc. (NET), FTNT has outperformed. Over the past year, NET stock has grown 30.5%.

Despite its outperformance, Wall Street currently has an unsure view of the stock. Among the 41 analysts tracking FTNT, the overall consensus stands at a "Hold." Its mean price target of $164.40 offers a 4.4% upside potential from current prices.

On the date of publication, Aritra Gangopadhyay did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com