FireEye Acquires Verodin For $250 Million, Updates Guidance

FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:FEYE) recently announced that it has completed the buyout of Verodin in an effort to enhance its capabilities in the cybersecurity space. The transaction is worth about $250 million, which was paid in cash and stock.

The Verodin Security Instrumentation Platform will complement FireEye’s portfolio and technology, bringing in additional advanced security gap identifying capabilities.

Updated Guidance

The buyout is expected to significantly boost FireEye’s top line, cash flow from operations and non-GAAP operating income in 2020. The company also expects more than $70 million in total billings from the combination in the year. Moreover, in full-year 2019, about $20 million is expected to be contributed to billings.

Considering the evaluation of Verodin’s business, FireEye raised its revenue and billings guidance for second-quarter 2019 and full-year 2019.

For the second quarter, the company now expects revenues in the range $213-$217 million, up from the earlier guided range of $212-$216 million. The current midpoint is at $215 million, higher than the prior midpoint of $214 million. Billings are now projected in the range of $207-$222 million, up from $205-$220 million projected earlier.

However, non-GAAP earnings, which were earlier expected to range of a penny to 3 cents, is now projected between 0 and 2 cents per share.

For full-year 2019, FireEye now estimates revenues in the range of $890-$900 million, up from $880-$890 million expected earlier. Outlook for billings were raised to $935-$955 million, up from previous guidance of $915-$935 million.

However, non-GAAP earnings, which were earlier expected to range of 17-21 cents, is now estimated between 12 and 16 cents per share.

Helix Platform to Gain from Verodin Buyout

FireEye’s cloud-hosted security operations platform, Helix, is witnessing strong adoption among customers. This uptrend is likely to be boosted further with the addition of Verodin’s technology to its existing capabilities.

The integration will allow customers to prioritize and automate continuous improvement of security controls; and implement Verodin's cyber security measurement and validation solutions as an Expertise On Demand service, through the FireEye Managed Defense platform.

FireEye pursues strategic acquisitions to drive growth. The company's acquisition of X15 Software in 2018 enhanced the company’s abilities of managing security related data for better decision making, thereby helping its clients counter risks more effectively.

This history of successful acquisitions makes us optimistic about the Verodin buyout.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

FireEye currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few stocks worth considering in the broader Computer and Technology sector are Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:SIMO) , eGain Corporation (NASDAQ:EGAN) and Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth for Silicon Motion, eGain and Cirrus is projected to be 5%, 30% and 15%, respectively.

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