Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.800-3.900 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 3.130. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.5 billion-$10.5 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.5 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its Q2 2026 guidance to 0.930-0.950 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.90. 6,748,954 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,134,173. The company has a market cap of $136.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.55, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $209.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.42. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the third quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Orion Investment Co increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the second quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 10,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 13,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.