Palo Alto Stock Is Popping Today: What's Going On?

Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW shares are trading higher Monday after the company reported quarterly results and issued strong earnings guidance. Several analysts raised price targets following the print.

What Happened: Palo Alto said fiscal fourth-quarter revenue increased 26% year-over-year to $1.95 billion, which missed the consensus estimates of $1.96 billion. The cybersecurity company reported quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, which beat estimates of $1.28 per share. 

Palo Alto issued fiscal first-quarter earnings guidance of $1.15 to $1.17 per share versus estimates of $1.11. The company anticipates full-year year earnings of $5.27 to $5.40 per share versus estimates of $4.98 per share.

On the revenue front, Palo Alto anticipates first-quarter numbers to be between $1.82 billion to $1.85 billion versus estimates of $1.93 billion. The company expects full-year revenue to be between $8.15 billion and $8.2 billion versus estimates of $8.38 billion. 

"We finished off the year with strong execution and the changing environment drove more customers towards platformization," said Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto.

"Our strategy is resonating with a growing number of our customers, driving continued consolidation, to deliver superior security outcomes. We were delighted with the reception in the market for our AI based security automation platform, XSIAM." 

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Analyst Updates: 

• Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick maintained Palo Alto with a Buy and raised the price target from $225 to $270.
• JPMorgan analyst Brian Essex maintained Palo Alto with an Overweight and raised the price target from $251 to $268.
• Raymond James analyst Adam Tindle maintained Palo Alto with an Outperform and raised the price target from $230 to $250.
• B of A Securities analyst Tal Liani maintained Palo Alto with a Buy and raised the price target from $270 to $290.
• UBS analyst Roger Boyd maintained Palo Alto with a Neutral and raised the price target from $220 to $260.
• BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman maintained Palo Alto with an Outperform and raised the price target from $235 to $275.
• Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron reiterated Palo Alto with an Outperform and maintained a $290 price target.

PANW Price Action: Palo Alto shares were up 12.6% at $236 at the time of writing, per Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Robinraj Premchand from Pixabay.