Are Palo Alto Earnings Enough to Offset Guidance?

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 30, 12:47PM EST · Published Nov 25, 4:32PM EST

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Are Palo Alto Earnings Enough to Offset Guidance? — © solarseven / Getty Images

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NYSE: PANW | PANW Price Prediction) released fiscal first-quarter financial results after markets closed Monday. The firm said that it had $1.05 in earnings per share (EPS) and $772 million in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that called for $1.03 in EPS and $767.77 million in revenue. The same period from last year had $1.17 in EPS and $656.0 million in revenue.

Overall revenues grew 18% year over year. Product revenues decreased 3.9% to $231.2 million, while subscription and support revenues grew 30.1% to $540.7 million.

During the quarter, billings grew 18% year over year to $897.4 million. Deferred revenue increased 26% year over year to $3.0 billion.

Looking ahead to the fiscal second quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $1.11 to $1.13 and revenue in the range of $838 million to $840 million. Analysts are calling for $1.30 in EPS and $845.12 million in revenue for the coming quarter.

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Nikesh Arora, board chair and chief executive, commented:

Palo Alto Networks’ multi-platform approach to security is clearly resonating with our customers. Our Next-Gen Security offerings performed extremely well in our first fiscal quarter, bolstering our confidence in our long-term prospects for Prisma and Cortex. At our recent Ignite conference, we introduced significant product enhancements, including Cortex XDR 2.0, SD-WAN and DLP capabilities for Prisma Access and the integration of Twistlock and PureSec into Prisma Cloud, that should sustain this momentum. Additionally, we expect our proposed acquisition of Aporeto, announced today, will further extend our leadership in cloud security.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks closed Monday at $250.35, with a 52-week range of $165.34 to $260.63. The consensus analyst price target is $264.81. Following the announcement, the stock was initially up about 1% at $253.20 in the after-hours session.

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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.