Scotiabank Has Bullish Estimate for PANW FY2026 Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Analysts at Scotiabank raised their FY2026 earnings estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research report issued on Thursday, February 19th. Scotiabank analyst P. Colville now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings per share of $2.14 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.09. Scotiabank currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share.

PANW has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $141.67 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $115.60 billion, a PE ratio of 78.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $176.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company-level fundamentals show continuing revenue growth and management set FY?2026 EPS guidance (3.65–3.70) and Q3 guidance, supporting the view of durable subscription/AI-driven demand. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised FY2026 EPS estimates for PANW, indicating some sell?side confidence in the company’s forward earnings trajectory. FY2026 EPS Estimate for Palo Alto Networks Raised by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer and media coverage are keeping PANW in public view — attention can amplify moves in either direction but doesn’t change fundamentals. Jim Cramer Discusses Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (e.g., CrowdStrike) highlight differing strategies — PANW’s platform approach vs. CRWD’s acquisition growth — which frames investor preference but is not an immediate catalyst. Cybersecurity Showdown: CrowdStrike’s Acquisition Spree vs Palo Alto’s Platform Play
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst (Daiwa) cut PANW’s price target from $212 to $175 — the downgrade of expectations (even with an “outperform” rating retained) is weighing on sentiment. Daiwa Securities Adjusts PT on Palo Alto Networks to $175 from $212, Maintains Outperform Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide selling after Anthropic released an AI tool that scans code for vulnerabilities has triggered fears that automated AI tools could displace parts of cybersecurity vendors’ workflows. This is a major near-term headwind for PANW. Cybersecurity stocks drop for a second day as new Anthropic tool fuels AI disruption fears
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary (and the Seeking Alpha angle) points to EPS pressure from share dilution — investors may be penalizing dilution risk despite GAAP/adjusted beats. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.