William Blair Expects Lower Earnings for Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair reduced their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report issued on Wednesday, July 16th. William Blair analyst J. Ho now forecasts that the network technology company will earn $0.51 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.52. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks' current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Palo Alto Networks' Q3 2026 earnings at $0.48 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.06 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PANW. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $195.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,977,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,403,774. The company's fifty day moving average price is $195.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.03. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $130.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.87, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.97.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total transaction of $24,258,665.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,298,914.52. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $970,736,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $810,047,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.