Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks updated its FY 2026 guidance to 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance to 0.780-0.800 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Palo Alto Networks’ conference call:

• Company reported strong operating performance with NGS ARR up 33% to $6.33B (organic +28%), revenue $2.59B, and a 30.3% non‑GAAP operating margin, plus robust free cash flow (TTM $3.75B), all above expectations.
• Palo Alto emphasized platform momentum — SASE surpassed $1.5B ARR (~40% growth), XIM exceeded $500M ARR, and Prisma AIRS reached 100+ customers — and introduced AgentiX and planned Koi integration to secure agentic endpoints.
• Management closed two large strategic acquisitions — Chronosphere (~$200M ARR) and CyberArk (~$1.2B ARR) — positioning the company to expand observability and identity security and backing guidance that includes meaningful M&A contributions.
• Acquisitions and financing will have material near-term cash impact (≈$4.9B combined outlay, 112M shares issued, and assumed CyberArk note repurchase obligations), creating integration and balance‑sheet execution risk that could pressure the stock if disruptions occur.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $3.45 on Tuesday, hitting $163.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,927,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,851,794. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.69 and its 200-day moving average is $192.28. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $113.96 billion, a PE ratio of 92.24, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto beat top-line expectations with fiscal Q2 revenue of about $2.6B and Next‑Generation Security ARR up ~33% to $6.3B, showing continued demand for its platform. PR: Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management materially raised full‑year revenue guidance to $11.28B–$11.31B (from ~$10.5B prior), signaling stronger-than-expected top-line prospects for FY26. WSJ: Revenue Outlook Lifted
• Positive Sentiment: Product and research pushes — MSIAM 2.0 launch and Unit 42 AI/incident report — reinforce the company’s AI/security positioning and help the platform narrative. PR: MSIAM 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: some firms keep Buy/outperform ratings while trimming targets as they digest valuation and execution risk. Channel checks cited by some brokers point to improving demand. InsiderMonkey: BTIG Checks
• Negative Sentiment: Management trimmed its annual profit forecast and issued fiscal Q3 profit guidance below Street expectations, explicitly citing rising costs from recent acquisitions to bolster AI capabilities — the guidance hit sentiment and sparked after‑hours selling. Reuters: Profit Forecast Cut
• Negative Sentiment: The announced intent to acquire Koi (agentic endpoint security) increased investor concern about near-term integration and expense load; reports noted the stock reacted negatively to the deal news. PR: Koi Acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Some brokers trimmed price targets (example: Mizuho lowered its target), reflecting concern about near-term profitability and valuation pressure on software names. The Fly: PT Lowered

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $215.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.08.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.