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FireEye Inc. reported record quarterly results Tuesday and said 2021 might be its first $1 billion year of sales as the priority for cybersecurity ramps up following a massive hack in December.
Back in December, FireEye FEYE, +0.51% revealed it had been hacked a week before the massive cyberattack on SolarWinds Corp.’s SWI, -1.93% IT management software was disclosed that compromised both private-sector and government systems. FireEye believes the sophistication of the attack points to state-sponsored cyberespionage. The heightened awareness of vulnerability is a definite tailwind for the company, FireEye Chief Executive Kevin Mandia told MarketWatch in an interview.
“Pretty much everything we do is going to get lifted in 2021,” Mandia said.
Cloud-based services and intelligence consulting now makes up two-thirds of FireEye’s current business, making 2020 the first full year that cloud-based products have surpasses on-premise legacy products, Mandia said.
“We’ve made the turn,” Mandia told MarketWatch. “It took us four to five years to get to that point.”
FireEye reported a fourth-quarter loss of $39.7 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with a loss of $49.2 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings, which excludes expenses for stock-based compensation and other items, were a record 12 cents a share, compared with 7 cents a share in the year ago quarter.
Revenue rose to $247.5 million from $235.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $240.1 million, based on FireEye’s forecast of 9 cents to 11 cents a share on revenue of $237 million to $241 million.
FireEye expects first-quarter adjusted earnings of 5 cents to 7 cents a share on revenue of $235 million to $238 million, while analysts had forecast earnings of 7 cents a share on revenue of $233.7 million.
For the year, FireEye expects adjusted earnings of 35 cents to 37 cents a share on revenue of $990 million to $1.01 billion. Analysts estimate earnings of 35 cents a share on revenue of $987.7 million.
Shares of FireEye declined 3% after hours, following a 0.5% rise to close Tuesday trading at $21.70.
