Its shares rose about 2% in after-hours trading as the company announced an additional $500 million in share buybacks. They dipped briefly during the post-earnings conference call after Chief Executive Officer Nikesh Arora said the recent global computer system outage It has caused several clients to reevaluate their options.
An increase in online threats have boosted demand for companies like Palo Alto that offer cybersecurity products. But analysts have said the July 19 service outage, linked to CrowdStrike’s software update, has exposed the risks of locking in on a single vendor.
Starting this quarter, the company will make next-generation security annual recurring revenue the key financial metric for both quarterly and annual revenue projections, Chief Financial Officer Dipak Golechha said.
“It was a strong, better-than-expected quarter as PANW continues to expand its next-generation security business while balancing profitable growth,” said Shrenik Kothari, principal sector analyst at Baird.
The company, whose products include the Prisma cloud security suite and the AI-powered Cortex portfolio, expects its annual revenue to be between $9.1 billion and $9.15 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $9.11 billion, according to LSEG data.
Discover the stories that interest you
Palo Alto expects its adjusted annual earnings per share to be between $6.18 and $6.31, versus expectations of $6.19. Its fourth-quarter revenue rose 12% to $2.19 billion, beating expectations of $2.16 billion.
The company, which counts NetApp, Iron Mountain and a U.S. federal agency among its customers, posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.51, beating the estimate of $1.41.
Earlier this month, rival Fortinet raised its annual revenue forecast.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.