Palo Alto Networks Inc., (NYSE: PANW)
Palo Alto Networks shares are expected to trade actively once markets open today, after the cyber security firm revealed stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday.
Profit and sales grew 39% and 29% year over year, prompting the company to issue an upbeat outlook for the current quarter.
Palo Alto shares were down 0.8% when trading closed on Thursday. PANW Stock has climbed approximately 53.3% since the year begun, while the S&P 500 has added 8%.
PANW Earnings & Outlook
Palo Alto Networks said it lost $2.3 million, or $0.02 per share, compared to a loss of $38.2 million, or $0.42 per share in the year-ago period.
Adjusted earnings increased to $1.28 per share from $0.92 per share during the same period last year. Revenue rose to $658.1 million from $509.10 million in fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.
Analysts polled by Thompson Reuters had estimated adjusted earnings of $1.17 per share on sales of $634 million. Palo Alto Networks had previously issued revenue guidance in the range of $625 million to $635 million for the quarter.
Looking ahead, the California-based company projects adjusted earnings in the range of $1.04 to $1.06 per share, and revenue of between $625 and $635 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019. Analysts are for adjusted earnings of $1.07 per share for the current quarter, and sales of $616.48 million.
Palo Alto Networks CEO Comments
Palo Alto Networks Chief Executive Nikesh Arora said, “We had a strong fourth quarter, continuing our global momentum at a growth rate that outpaces our peers and the cybersecurity market.”
Arora added, “Enterprises are in the early stages of the cloud revolution. This poses new security challenges for businesses worldwide. We are becoming the strategic partner of choice to help businesses embrace the cloud and protect their digital information by reducing complexity and providing the same level of consistency, integration, and automation that we brought to network security.”
Palo Alto Networks Inc., Company Profile
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. provides network security solutions globally. It specializes in network security functions which include threat protection, firewall, intrusion detection system, intrusion prevention system and uniform resource locator filtering.
It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Asia Pacific and Japan
In addition, the company provides support services; and professional services, including application traffic management, solution design and planning, configuration, and firewall migration, as well as online and classroom-style education training services.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. sells its products and services through its channel partners, as well as directly to medium to large enterprises, service providers, and government entities operating in various industries, including education, energy, financial services, government entities, healthcare, Internet and media, manufacturing, public sector, and telecommunications.
The company was founded by Nir Zuk, Rajiv Batra and Yu Ming Mao in March 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm competes with Atlassian Corp PLC, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd and CA Technologies Inc. –CNNMoney
