Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.800-3.900 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 3.130. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.5 billion-$10.5 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.5 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its Q2 2026 guidance to 0.930-0.950 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.22.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $199.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.