Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook for F5 FY2026 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for F5 to $13.59 from $12.80 and also increased forecasts for FY2027 and FY2028, signaling improved long-term profitability expectations. Zacks nevertheless maintained a “Hold” rating.
• F5’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $4.73 versus the $4.00 consensus and revenue of $865.08 million versus estimates of $834.60 million. Revenue increased 10.9% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $416.62; F5 shares recently traded near $403.20, while institutional investors own 90.66% of the stock.

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for F5 in a report released on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the network technology company will post earnings of $13.59 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $12.80. Zacks Research has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for F5's current full-year earnings is $13.65 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for F5's Q4 2026 earnings at $3.25 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $3.37 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $3.42 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $3.86 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $13.77 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $3.79 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $3.79 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $4.17 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $16.16 EPS.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The network technology company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.73. F5 had a return on equity of 21.54% and a net margin of 21.95%.The firm had revenue of $865.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $834.60 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.16 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. F5 has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.260 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.210-17.330 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $461.00 target price (up from $423.00) on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of F5 from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $416.62.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of F5 stock opened at $403.20 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $404.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $344.58. F5 has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $435.00. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.03.

Institutional Trading of F5

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 166.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 62,906 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $16,750,000 after buying an additional 39,305 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in F5 by 1,281.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in F5 by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 298,297 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $79,428,000 after acquiring an additional 82,835 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in F5 in the 1st quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in F5 by 288.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nikhil Ramesh Mehta sold 4,000 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.95, for a total value of $1,555,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,739,374.85. This trade represents a 36.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Anthony Maddison sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.85, for a total transaction of $405,850.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,353 shares in the company, valued at $549,115.05. This represents a 42.50% 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 90 days, insiders sold 15,699 shares of company stock valued at $6,316,411. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting F5

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised earnings estimates across multiple periods. The firm increased its FY2026 EPS forecast to $13.59 from $12.80, FY2027 to $13.77 from $13.02, and FY2028 to $16.16 from $13.48. It also lifted estimates for several individual quarters, including Q4 2026, Q1 and Q3 2027, and Q1 through Q3 2028. The revisions indicate improving expectations for F5’s profitability and are above the current-year consensus estimate of $13.53. Zacks Research Forecasts F5's Q2 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: The estimate increases are concentrated in future periods. Although Zacks raised its Q2 2028 EPS forecast to $3.79 from $3.22 and its Q3 2028 forecast to $4.17 from $3.46, these revisions may have less impact on near-term trading than changes to current-quarter guidance or results.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks maintained a Hold rating. The lack of an upgrade may temper investor enthusiasm, particularly after F5’s strong run toward its 52-week high. At a valuation of roughly 32 times earnings, investors may be looking for stronger near-term catalysts before assigning the stock a higher multiple.

F5 Company Profile

F5 Inc NASDAQ: FFIV specializes in application services and delivery networking, helping organizations ensure the availability, performance and security of their applications. The company's core offerings include advanced load balancing, traffic management and application security solutions designed to optimize user experiences and protect against threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and web application exploits.

At the heart of F5's product portfolio is the BIG-IP platform, which provides a suite of software modules for local and global traffic management, secure web application firewalling and DNS service delivery.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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