We recently published a list of 12 AI Stocks Making Waves on Wall Street Today. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) stands against other AI stocks that are making waves on Wall Street today.
The United States recently issued guidance threatening companies not to use advanced computer chips from China, including Huawei’s Ascend AI chips. However, China has now urged the country to “immediately correct its wrongdoings” and stop “discriminatory” measures against it.
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce has said that the United States has abused its export control measures. He said that the country has imposed stricter restrictions on Chinese chip products based on unfounded allegations, further explaining how the said restrictions contain discriminatory measures and tend to distort the market.
The U.S. Commerce Department had issued the guidance last week, with its Bureau of Industry and Security stating that “these chips were likely developed or produced in violation of U.S. export controls.”
“The U.S. has been abusing export control measures, imposing stricter restrictions on Chinese chip products under unfounded accusations… China firmly opposes this… Trying to trip others won’t make oneself run faster.”
Opposing the unilateral bullying from the US’s end, the Chinese spokesperson said that the restrictions have infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. The country has been accused of undermining the preliminary trade agreement reached in Geneva, Switzerland.
The spokesperson further urged the country to work with China to jointly safeguard the consensus concluded in the Geneva talks.
“If the United States continues to cause China substantive harm, China will take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q4 2024.
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Fortinet (FTNT) Reiterated Overweight by KeyBanc on Growth and Refresh Cycle
A close-up of a user authenticating into a secure network using a two-factor authentication process.
Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT), a cybersecurity company, provides enterprise-level next-generation firewalls and network security solutions, leveraging artificial intelligence across its cybersecurity products. On May 20, KeyBanc analyst Eric Heath reiterated an “Overweight” rating on the stock with a $115.00 price target. Even though Fortinet has been operating in a complex macroeconomic environment, feedback for April and the beginning of May has been predominantly positive. Even though a few concerns were raised by partners regarding recent turnover within Fortinet’s go-to-market (GTM) team, the overall sentiment about Fortinet’s market position and growth prospects remains positive. The report ended with a positive note on the industry-wide refresh cycle, specific end-of-service refresh opportunity, and its unique strategy in expanding into Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
“Following Fortinet’s mixed 1Q earnings results & commentary, we caught up with a handful of channel contacts, and the feedback on the month of April and into May has generally been positive. Further, despite the dynamic macro, channel feedback on pipeline and the outlook for the end-of-service refresh opportunity also remains constructive. There were, however, a couple partners that expressed some caution of recent turnover among Fortinet’s GTM team that is causing execution to not be as strong as it maybe otherwise could be. Separately, following Fortinet’s 10-Q filing, we are lowering our services revenue estimates to now decelerate throughout 2025 as opposed to our prior model that had modest acceleration. As a result, we are now 0.5% below the midpoint of revenue guidance. Our recent channel conversations keep us positive on the broader industry firewall refresh cycle underway, the Fortinet end-of-service refresh opportunity, and Fortinet’s differentiated GTM & product strategy to be successful expanding into SASE, if some incremental caution on GTM execution. Reiterate Overweight and $115 price target.”
Overall, FTNT ranks 11th on our list of AI stocks that are making waves on Wall Street today. While we acknowledge the potential of FTNT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FTNT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
