Zacks Research Estimates F5's Q1 Earnings (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Key Points

• Zacks Research lowered its Q1 2027 EPS estimate for F5 to $3.33 from $3.37 and maintains a Hold rating. Its FY2027 EPS estimate is $13.94, below the cited consensus estimate of $14.19.
• F5’s latest reported quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $4.42 versus $4.26 forecast and revenue up 13.2% year over year to $917.43 million. The company also authorized a $1.5 billion share buyback.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans Hold: four analysts rate the stock Buy, seven Hold and one Sell, with a consensus price target of $443.

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2027 EPS estimates for F5 in a research note issued on Tuesday, November 10th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the network technology company will post earnings of $3.33 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $3.37. Zacks Research currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for F5's current full-year earnings is $14.19 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for F5's Q2 2027 earnings at $3.21 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $3.45 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $3.93 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $13.94 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $3.74 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $3.72 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $4.05 EPS, Q4 2028 earnings at $4.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $15.92 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of F5 from $415.00 to $448.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $525.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of F5 from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of F5 in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $443.00.

F5 Stock Performance

FFIV stock opened at $320.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.07. F5 has a 1 year low of $223.76 and a 1 year high of $483.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $416.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $364.89.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The network technology company reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.16. F5 had a net margin of 21.14% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The company had revenue of $917.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 27th that authorizes the company to buy back $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Kunal Anand sold 1,989 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.06, for a total transaction of $644,555.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 14,578 shares in the company, valued at $4,724,146.68. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas Fountain sold 9,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.74, for a total value of $3,095,269.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,704.40. The trade was a 53.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,261 shares of company stock worth $10,263,863. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of F5

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in F5 in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,611,637,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in F5 by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 732,219 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $325,969,000 after buying an additional 141,131 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in F5 by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 726,844 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $302,338,000 after buying an additional 144,534 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in F5 by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 603,086 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $174,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in F5 in the 2nd quarter worth about $243,865,000. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Recent F5 Headlines

Investors following FFIV have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its FY2027 EPS forecast to $13.94 from $13.77, including increases to estimates for several quarters. A separate analysis described F5 as potentially 10% undervalued as demand for AI security builds. Zacks Research estimate revisions F5 stock may be 10% undervalued as AI security demand builds
• Neutral Sentiment: F5 will present at the 2026 RBCCM Global Technology, Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference on November 18; no new financial guidance was announced. F5 to participate in upcoming financial conference
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered its FY2028 EPS forecast to $15.92 from $16.16 and trimmed estimates for multiple FY2028 quarters, including Q3 and Q4. This tempers the more favorable FY2027 revisions. Zacks Research estimate revisions

About F5

F5, Inc. provides application delivery and security solutions that help organizations manage, protect and optimize applications across data centers, public clouds and edge environments. Its offerings serve businesses, government agencies and service providers around the world. The company's products and services include BIG-IP application delivery and security software, NGINX technologies for application development and delivery, and F5 Distributed Cloud Services. These offerings support functions such as traffic management, web and API protection, application security and multicloud connectivity.

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