Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of FireEye (MNDT) jumped nearly 11% Monday, then settled to close up around 8% leading into the cyber-security specialist's on-campus analyst open house this afternoon.
So what: Disappointing guidance has caused FireEye shares to plummet following each of its past two quarterly reports -- including an 11% drop in February, and a 22% plunge last Wednesday -- and both results were largely influenced by significantly increased chunks of cash dedicated to R&D and sales and marketing. Even after today's jump, the stock still sits more than 70% below its March highs.
But FireEye's open house today could be a solid first step to providing more clarity to analysts on why it's missing their proposed marks. To be sure, FireEye stated the afternoon's events would include product demonstrations, Q&A with senior management, and updates on their "vision, strategy and operations."
Now what: Of course, that doesn't change the fact FireEye has made a habit of falling significantly short of Wall Street's expectations. But if their efforts today can at least help analysts understand why that's the case and successfully help them pitch a longer-term outlook, perhaps the broader investing public will be more forgiving of the company -- especially considering its underlying stock trades at a lofty 17 times trailing 12-month sales. For now, though, and despite the big pullback since the last time I opted to stay on the sidelines, I'm just fine keeping FireEye on my watch list.
