Palo Alto Networks Sees Stock Surge After Reporting Strong Earnings And Upping Guidance: 5 Analysts React

Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW were climbing higher on Wednesday, after the company reported upbeat quarterly results and raised its full-year guidance.

The report came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the earnings release.

BMO Capital Markets On Palo Alto Networks

Analyst Keith Bachman maintained an Outperform rating, while raising the price target from $228 to $235.

Palo Alto Networks generated a small upside to billings and modestly raised its fiscal 2023 guidance for billings, operating margins and free cash flows, Bachman said in a note.

“Despite greater macro headwinds than in the previous quarter, we believe PANW executed well,” he wrote. “PANW will continue to benefit from consolidation opportunities, and we are encouraged by the company’s increasing software mix,” the analyst added.

JMP Securities On Palo Alto Networks

Analyst Trevor Walsh reiterated a Market Perform rating, while raising the price target from $230 to $255.

“Palo Alto Networks continues to perform ahead of consensus expectations while maintaining a profitable growth profile,” Walsh wrote in a note.

The company has a “disciplined” management team that is focused on delivering “an accelerated path toward industry peer level operating profitability, while maintaining an attractive financial profile,” the analyst said. Palo Alto Networks has a “proven strategy to deliver balanced top-line performance, with total bookings from accounts north of $10M growing 136% y/y in the quarter, despite experiencing the same macro pressures as cybersecurity peers,” he added.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

RBC Capital Markets On Palo Alto Networks

Analyst Matthew Hedberg reaffirmed an Outperform rating, while raising the price target from $216 to $232.

Although macros worsened during the quarter, the company “again delivered upside to important growth metrics on strong execution,” Hedberg said.

The company’s margin expansion was also impressive and management noted that fiscal 2023 will be the new baseline to build on, “emphasizing the durability and long-term value of the model,” he added.

Oppenheimer On Palo Alto Networks

Analyst Ittai Kidron reiterated an Outperform rating and price target of $250.

Palo Alto Networks reported “solid” results and billings “on broad-based demand, growing cross-platform adoption, and healthy deal activity,” Kidron said.

“Other highlights include strong Next-Gen security ARR growth, and strong multi-module adoption for Prisma Cloud customers,” the analyst stated. “Despite increasing macro headwinds and deal scrutiny, the company has focused on improving its deal pipeline to compensate for lower conversion rates, and continues to deliver on topline growth,” he added.

William Blair On Palo Alto Networks

Analyst Jonathan Ho maintained an Outperform rating on the stock.

“Palo Alto Networks delivered another set of strong quarterly results,” Ho wrote in a note.

“We believe the company executed well against what management described as an environment that continues to become more challenging,” the analyst said. “We also believe the company continues to be well positioned to benefit from key trends that the company had anticipated, such as Zero Trust, cloud security adoption, and SOC transformations,” he added.

PANW Price Action: Shares of Palo Alto Networks had risen by 8.8% to $206.46 at the time of publishing Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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