Hotchkis & Wiley Global Value Fund on F5, Inc.
Thesis
Hotchkis & Wiley believes F5 is misunderstood because investors incorrectly classify it primarily as a legacy IT hardware vendor. The business sells application networking and security software alongside data-center appliances, and recent results were strong enough for management to raise both revenue and EPS guidance. The resulting misclassification leaves the stock at what the fund views as an attractive valuation relative to its fundamental risk profile.
“The company is misunderstood and gets incorrectly classified as a legacy IT hardware vendor, resulting in an attractive valuation.”