March 12 (Reuters) - Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne ( S )

forecast quarterly profit below Wall Street estimates on

Thursday, signaling a cautious stance amid intense competition

from larger rivals and a finance leadership transition.

Shares of the Mountain View, California-based company were

down over 2% after the bell.

The company faces competition from larger rivals such as

CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) and Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ), as well as

from Microsoft ( MSFT ), which is bundling security features

into its enterprise software.

The cybersecurity market has also been rattled by concerns

over the rise of artificial intelligence tools, which could

commoditize certain security functions.

The company's biggest product is an AI-powered cybersecurity

platform called Singularity, which aims to autonomously prevent,

detect and respond to cyberattacks across devices, cloud

workloads and data centers.

It also offers Purple AI, designed to help security teams

speed up the process of hunting for digital threats.

A cautious macroeconomic environment continues to pressure

corporate IT budgets, which could also temper the company's

growth.

Ahead of the results, analysts said SentinelOne ( S ) could

provide a more conservative initial guidance for fiscal 2027, as

incoming finance chief Sonalee Parekh gets established.

The company expects adjusted profit per share between 1 cent

and 2 cents for the fiscal first quarter, below analysts'

average estimate of 5 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It expects revenue between $276 million and $278 million for

the quarter, largely in line with estimates of $277 million.

For the fourth quarter ended January 31, SentinelOne's ( S )

revenue rose 20% to $271.2 million, in line with estimates.

Adjusted profit came in at 7 cents per share, beating estimates

of 6 cents apiece.