2 Big Earnings Reports to Watch After the Close

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 3:02AM EST · Published Feb 26, 1:45PM EST

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2 Big Earnings Reports to Watch After the Close — © Thinkstock

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) and Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE: FIT) are each scheduled to release their most recent quarterly results after the markets close on Monday. Although the busy part of the earnings season has come and gone, a few major companies are still reporting this week. And what better way to kick off earnings this week than with a cybersecurity giant and an up-and-coming fitness gadget company.

As for Palo Alto Networks, Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.79 in earnings per share (EPS) on $524.98 million in revenue. The fiscal second-quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.63 and $422.6 million in revenue.

The company’s reported fiscal first-quarter results in November were better than expected, and second-quarter guidance was strong as product revenue outperformed. The core product refresh, sales reorganization and new/unattached product traction all help growth tailwinds. Software subscription sales grew a strong 40%.

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Prior to the release of the report, a few analysts weighed in on Palo Alto:

Cleveland Research has a Buy rating.
Evercore ISI has a Buy rating with a $180 price target.
KeyCorp has an Overweight rating and a $190 price target.
Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating with a $180 target price.
Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating with a $168 price target.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks were last seen up about 1.5% at $168.05 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $173.54 and a 52-week trading range of $107.31 to $168.60.

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For Fitbit, the consensus estimates call for breakeven earnings on $588.89 million in revenue. In the same period of last year, it reported a net loss of $0.56 per share and revenue of $573.77 million.

Recently, the wearable health and fitness tracking company has announced that it will acquire a company called Twine Health. The goal is to match up the millions of Fitbit users up with Twine Health’s health coaching platform. In the longer term, Fitbit will have the opportunity to extend the benefits of the Twine platform to over 25 million users and will expand into new condition areas.

A few analysts weighed in on Fitbit ahead of the report:

Stifel has a Hold rating and a $5.50 price target.
Roth Capital has a Buy rating with a $10 price target.
Morgan Stanley has a Hold rating with a $6 target.
Cleveland Research has a Hold rating.

Shares of Fitbit were up about 4.5% at $5.51, with a consensus price target of $6.55 and a 52-week range of $4.90 to $7.32.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.