Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ: PANW) jumped close to 10% in extended trading after the cybersecurity company said it swung to a profit in its fiscal second quarter.
Palo Alto shares up on raised guidance
The cybersecurity stock is responding to the raised guidance as well.
Palo Alto is now calling for $3.97 to $4.03 of adjusted per-share earnings this year on a 25% to 26% annualised increase in total revenue. In the earnings press release, CFO Dipak Golechha said:
Our focus on driving profitable growth is reflected in Q2. As a result, we’re raising our cash flow margin and operating profitability targets as we remain focused on driving efficiency in our business.
Street had forecast $3.42 a share and roughly 25.5% growth in revenue. Palo Alto shares are now up about 30% year-to-date.
Key takeaways from Palo Alto Q2 results
- Net income printed at $84.2 million that translates to 25 cents a share
- That compares to $93.5 million of loss (32 cents a share) last year
- Adjusted EPS came in at $1.05 as per the earnings press release
- Revenue went up 26% on a year-over-year basis to $1.66 billion
- Consensus was 44 cents of adjusted EPS on $1.65 billion in revenue
Earlier this month, Palo Alto Networks announced the launch of its cloud infrastructure in Switzerland. On the earnings call today, CEO Nikesh Arora said:
We’re now well-positioned for the second half. We believe we can continue to build on this into fiscal year 2024 and beyond and putting us three-years ahead of our profitability targets we offered at our last Analyst Day in Sept 2021.
Wall Street currently rates Palo Alto shares at “buy”.
Source: https://invezz.com/news/2023/02/21/palo-alto-shares-up-q2-earnings-and-guidance/