Palo Alto (PANW) up 4% on Q1 product strength
13:51, 19 November 2021
Palo Alto Networks shares rose in pre-market Nasdaq trading on Friday after the company posted fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat estimates on the back of the strength of Palo Alto's product offering.
The Santa Clara, California-based company makes networking equipment such as firewalls and offers cybersecurity products and services. Last month it launched Okyo Garde, a networking and security hardware product aimed at work-from-home professionals.
For the period ended 31 October, net loss was $103.6m (£77.1m) compared to a loss of $92.2m a year earlier on total revenue of $1.25bn, a 32% jump from the $946m reported in last year's first quarter.
Adjusted EPS of $1.64
Adjusted earnings per share were $1.64, compared to the $1.62 recorded a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.57 on total revenue of $1.2bn, according to figures widely available on financial news sites.
In pre-market Nasdaq activity, the stock was up 4% at $542.50.
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– Photo: Palo Alto NetworksA strong start
"Q1 was a strong start to fiscal year 2022, driven by strength in both our product and Next-Generation Security businesses, giving us confidence to raise our revenue and billings guidance for the year," Palo Alto's chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora said in a press release.
Billings increased to $1.38bn from $1.08bn a year earlier.
Palo Alto Networks considers billings to be a useful metric for management and investors, particularly if sales of subscriptions continue to increase and the company experiences strong renewal rates for subscriptions and support.
Earnings guidance
The company also forecast key financial metrics for the current fiscal second quarter and 2022 fiscal year.
Palo Alto Networks said it expects adjusted second-quarter earnings of $1.63 to $1.66 per share on revenue of $1.27bn to $1.29bn and billings of $1.51bn to $1.53bn.
For fiscal year 2022, the company retained its adjusted earnings per share outlook of $7.15 to $7.25 and increased its revenue range to $5.35bn to $5.4bn from prior guidance of $5.28bn to $5.33bn.
– Photo: Palo Alto NetworksRead more: US DoJ launches two new Cybersecurity initiatives
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