Palo Alto Chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora joins 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk quarterly results, the state of cloud security and more.
Analysts published commentary on Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW after the company reported upbeat fiscal first-quarter results.
PANW's strong Q1 results reflect benefits from impressive performances across segments backed by a differentiated platformization strategy.
Palo Alto Network's NASDAQ: PANW stock price has been in a multi-year uptrend that will continue for many more years because of its leadership position in cybersecurity. It is the world's leading cybersecurity provider, and its business is supported by the increasing use of digitization by businesses and industries, compounded by the exponential rise in cyber threats.
Malicious hackers have compromised potentially thousands of organizations by exploiting two new zero-day vulnerabilities found in widely used software made by cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks.
Palo Alto Networks shows mixed results; growth rates are not upwardly revised, but the company boasts a strong balance sheet and solid free cash flow. PANW's valuation at 29x forward free cash flow is not cheap, but its integrated security platform and high free cash flow margins are positives. Despite competition from CrowdStrike and others, PANW's platformization strategy and strong financial footing make it a resilient contender in cybersecurity.
Palo Alto still showed a big miss on something investors care a lot about.
Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW, ETR:5AP) reported better-than-expected first-quarter adjusted earnings on Wednesday, though revenue narrowly missed estimates, prompting its stock to drop during after-hours trading. The cybersecurity company posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.56, exceeding Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $1.48. Revenue rose 14% year-over-year to $2.14 billion, just shy of the $2.12 billion forecast. The firm also announced a 2-for-1 stock split. In terms of the balance sheet, product revenue rose 3.7% year-over-year to $353.8 million, beating estimates of $344 million, while subscription and support revenue climbed 16% to $1.79 billion, slightly exceeding the $1.78 billion forecast. Deferred revenue, a key indicator of future performance, increased 16% to $5.51 billion but missed the $5.59 billion consensus. Meanwhile, research and development expenses surged 17% to $480.4 million, surpassing expectations of $467.3 million. For the second quarter, Palo Alto Networks projects adjusted EPS of $1.54 to $1.56, just in line with the consensus estimate of $1.55, and revenue of $2.22 billion to $2.25 billion, compared to an expected $2.23 billion. The company also issued full-year fiscal 2025 guidance, forecasting EPS of $6.26 to $6.39, slightly above the $6.28 consensus, and revenue of $9.12 billion to $9.17 billion, near analysts’ estimate of $9.13 billion. “Our Q1 results reinforced our conviction in our differentiated platformization strategy,” said chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora. “We see a growing market realization that platformization is the game changer that will solve security and enable better AI outcomes.” Despite the positive earnings surprise, investor concerns over the revenue shortfall and rising expenses weighed on the stock, which was down 5.8% in extended trading.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW ) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript November 20, 2024 4:30 PM ET Company Participants Walter Pritchard - SVP of IR and Corporate Development Nikesh Arora - Chairman and CEO Dipak Golechha - CFO Lee Klarich - CPO Conference Call Participants Saket Kalia - Barclays Brad Zelnick - Deutsche Bank Hamza Fodderwala - Morgan Stanley Brian Essex - JPMorgan Joe Gallo - Jefferies Matt Hedberg - RBC Gregg Moskowitz - Mizuho Rob Owens - Piper Sandler Gray Powell - BTIG Andy Nowinski - Wells Fargo Fatima Boolani - Citi Roger Boyd - UBS Walter Pritchard Good day, everyone, and welcome to Palo Alto Networks First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. I'm Walter Pritchard, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development.
The headline numbers for Palo Alto (PANW) give insight into how the company performed in the quarter ended October 2024, but it may be worthwhile to compare some of its key metrics to Wall Street estimates and the year-ago actuals.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.56 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.48 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.38 per share a year ago.
Palo Alto Networks raised its outlook for the year and said revenue climbed in its fiscal first quarter fueled by further subscription growth.