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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.650-3.700 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 3.140. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.3 billion-$11.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.5 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its Q3 2026 guidance to 0.780-0.800 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective (down previously from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Thirty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.02.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 9.3%

PANW stock opened at $148.34 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat consensus: Palo Alto reported $1.03 EPS and ~$2.59B revenue (both above estimates); Next?Generation Security ARR grew ~33% YoY — evidence of solid demand and platform traction. PR Newswire — Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management lifted full?year revenue range to about $11.28–11.31B and provided FY?2026 EPS guidance of $3.65–3.70 (above Street consensus), signaling longer?term top?line momentum. WSJ — Revenue Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell?side firms reiterated Buy/Outperform ratings with high price targets (e.g., Wedbush and Rosenblatt at $225; BTIG at $200), which supports a bullish medium?term narrative among analysts. Benzinga — Analyst Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Some brokerages trimmed price targets (Mizuho, BMO, Needham lowered targets from ~$230 to ~$200–205) but mostly kept Buy/Outperform ratings — mixed signal: lower valuations but continued analyst conviction. The Fly — Price Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged higher integration and deal costs tied to recent acquisitions (including the large CyberArk deal), and trimmed annual profit expectations — this comment triggered an immediate sell?off in after?hours/premarket trading. Reuters — Deal Costs / Profit Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Shorter?term guidance concerns: some headlines noted Q3 profit guidance disappointed expectations, prompting further downside pressure despite the quarter’s beats. CNBC — Q3 Guidance Reaction

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 127.7% in the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 214 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.