Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s 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 Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $3.45 on Tuesday, hitting $163.50. 15,927,121 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,336,087. The company has a market capitalization of $113.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.28. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $33,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.08.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.