Why Analysts Changed Views on Palo Alto and Splunk

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 12:36PM EST · Published Feb 28, 10:35AM EST

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Why Analysts Changed Views on Palo Alto and Splunk — © Thinkstock

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) and Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) may not be in the exact same businesses, but what they have in common is that they both were up handily after earnings on Thursday. They also saw big changes in their analyst ratings and targets.

Palo Alto Networks is one of the new leaders in enterprise security for companies and enterprise clients. Splunk enables real-time operational intelligence in the United States and internationally. The company’s products enable users to collect, index, search, explore, monitor and analyze data regardless of format or source users.

Shares of Palo Alto initially popped higher on the leaked earnings report, but then shares were halted. The company said it had $0.40 in earnings per share (EPS) on $334.7 million in revenue, which compares to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.39 in EPS on $318.32 million in revenue. The same period from last year had EPS of $0.19 and revenue $217.66 million.

In terms of the outlook for the fiscal third quarter, Palo Alto expects EPS to be in a range of $0.41 to $0.42 and revenue to be between $335 million and $339 million, representing year-over-year growth of 43% to 45%. The consensus estimates call for $0.45 in EPS on $334.64 million in revenue.

Splunk reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results as $0.11 in EPS on $220 million in revenue. Consensus estimates were EPS at $0.08 and $202.7 million in revenue.
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Merrill Lynch raised Palo Alto to Buy rating from Neutral, but the firm maintained its $210 price objective. Shares closed up 9.6% at $140.29 on Thursday, and they added another 5.2% before the end of the week.

A few other analysts had this to say about Palo Alto:

FBR has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $170 from $160.
RBC raised its price target to $195 from $185.
Topeka Capital Markets has a Buy rating and lowered its price target to $195 from $225.
Needham has a Buy rating and lowered its price target from $202 to $171.

Analysts weighed in on Splunk, as well:

Canaccord Genuity has a Buy rating and lowered its price target to $60 from $75.
Cowen has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $62 from $60.
Jefferies has a Buy rating and lowered its price target from $83 to $81.
Piper Jaffray has an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $48 from $41.
Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating and lowered its target price to $60 from $80.
Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating and lowered its target to $50 from $58.
RBC raised its price target to $60 from $56.
Susquehanna lowered its price target to $62 from $84.
Wedbush has an Outperform rating and lowered its price target to $56 from $60.
Maxim has a Buy rating and raised its price target from $67 to $72.
Stifel raised its target price to $51 from $45.
SunTrust Robinson has a Neutral rating and lowered its target to $49 from $69.

Shares of Palo Alto closed at $147.59, with a consensus analyst price target of $194.49 and a 52-week trading range of $111.09 to $200.55.

Splunk shares closed at $41.51, up 7.7% on the day, within a 52-week trading range of $29.85 to $76.85. The consensus price target is $67.83.

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.