Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.54-1.56 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.55. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.22-2.25 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.23 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 6.260-6.390 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $4.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $392.61. The company had a trading volume of 4,808,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,840,526. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $361.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $338.02. The company has a market capitalization of $127.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $258.17 and a twelve month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.92.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.