Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Issues Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) issued an update on its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.780-0.800 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.450. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.9 billion-$2.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.6 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 3.650-3.700 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of PANW stock traded down $3.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.50. 15,927,121 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,336,087. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $181.69 and a 200 day moving average of $192.28. The company has a market cap of $113.96 billion, a PE ratio of 103.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Evercore raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key 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

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,193,015 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,140,753,000 after purchasing an additional 286,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,928,031 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $907,743,000 after purchasing an additional 214,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.