SentinelOne cuts annual revenue forecast, shares fall

Audio By Carbonatix

(Reuters) -SentinelOne trimmed its annual revenue forecast on Wednesday, signaling cautious spending by businesses amid economic uncertainty, sending its shares down nearly 14% in extended trading.

Enterprise clients have been cutting back on critical security expenditures, as an uncertain macroeconomic environment pressures technology budgets, hitting demand for companies such as SentinelOne.

SentinelOne has more exposure to small- and mid-enterprise customers, which can pull back more quickly in an uncertain macroeconomic environment, adding to negative investor sentiment, according to analysts.

SentinelOne cut its annual revenue forecast to between $996 million and $1 billion, compared with its previous expectations of $1.01 billion to $1.012 billion.

Analysts on average expect $1.01 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company also faces intense competition from cybersecurity companies such as Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, which maintain a dominant position in the industry.

The Mountain View, California-based company announced a share buyback program worth $200 million.

It also forecast second-quarter revenue of $242 million, below estimates of $244.9 million.

Revenue for the first quarter ended April 30 came in at $229 million, compared with estimates of $228.4 million.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Alan Barona)