Pacific Crest Securities issued a Q1 enterprise preview Tuesday and commented on three stocks it would buy and one to watch.
Analysts led by Rob Owens noted that spending on security maintained “strong momentum into the first quarter, potentially taking share from other areas of IT spending.”
Owens said the market for firewall technology continued “to be the most robust segment; checks remain very strong on replacement cycle.”
The analysts concluded that trends for infrastructure were modestly better for Q1, however, cloud was “still a headwind to on-premise spending and euro will weigh on many results.”
Below are ratings and analyst comments for the enterprise software stocks.
Imperva Inc IMPV - Outperform, $52 price target
“Against a strong backdrop of spending, we believe results were stronger than forecast as the company is benefitting from improved execution and the improved secular trends.”
Imperva reports Q1 results on May 7 and recently traded at $45.42, up 3.53 percent.
Proofpoint Inc PFPT - Outperform, $63 price target
“Company seeing increased channel traction and TAP is providing competitive differentiation. We believe that momentum continues and both Q1 and 2015 expectations appear modest. (NB: We raised numbers midquarter).”
Proofpoint reports Q1 results on April 21 and recently traded at $60.29, up 3.32 percent.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. CHKP - Sector Perform, no price target
“Opportunistic setup into quarter as Q1 checks are strong and FW spending has remained robust. Revenue growth for Q1 will likely accelerate y/y and be greater than annual growth for all of 2014.”
Check Point Software Technologies reports Q1 results on April 20 and recently traded at $85.22, up 1.46 percent.
The firm’s one stock to watch:
FireEye Inc FEYE - Sector Perform, no price target
“Q4 represented first outperformance since 2013. All indications are that Q1 should again be strong. While we are not fans over the valuation, Q 1should show solid momentum.”
FireEye reports Q1 results on April 30 and recently traded at $41.22, up 3.28 percent.
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