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Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Palo Alto Networks logo
$374.36 -15.56 (-3.99%)
As of 03:57 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

Palo Alto Networks - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Sell
0
Hold
12
Buy
38

Based on 50 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Palo Alto Networks in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 50 analysts, 12 have given a hold rating, and 38 have given a buy rating for PANW.

Consensus Price Target

$390.02
4.23% Upside
According to the 50 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Palo Alto Networks, the average price target is $390.02. The highest price target for PANW is $475.00, while the lowest price target for PANW is $175.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 4.23% from the current price of $374.21.
MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.
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PANW Analyst Ratings Over Time

TypeCurrent Forecast
9/25/25 to 9/25/26
1 Month Ago
8/26/25 to 8/26/26
3 Months Ago
6/27/25 to 6/27/26
1 Year Ago
9/25/24 to 9/25/25
Strong Buy
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2 Strong Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy
38 Buy rating(s)
41 Buy rating(s)
38 Buy rating(s)
29 Buy rating(s)
Hold
12 Hold rating(s)
6 Hold rating(s)
8 Hold rating(s)
10 Hold rating(s)
Sell
0 Sell rating(s)
1 Sell rating(s)
1 Sell rating(s)
2 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target$390.02$367.20$306.59$212.39
Forecasted Upside4.23% Upside8.22% Upside0.78% Upside5.03% Upside
Consensus RatingModerate BuyModerate BuyModerate BuyModerate Buy

PANW Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.
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PANW Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.
Skip Chart and View Analyst Price Target HistorySkip Chart & View Price History Table

Palo Alto Networks Stock vs. The Competition

TypePalo Alto NetworksTechnology CompaniesBroader Market
Consensus Rating Score
2.76
2.23
2.53
Consensus RatingModerate BuyHoldModerate Buy
Predicted Upside0.03% Upside357.38% Upside19.68% Upside
News Sentiment Rating
Positive News

See Recent PANW News
Positive News
Positive News
DateBrokerageAnalystActionRatingPrice TargetReport Date
Upside/Downside
Details
9/21/2026
Morgan Stanley logo
Morgan Stanley
3 of 5 stars
Meta Marshall
Meta Marshall
5 of 5 stars
Set TargetOverweight$394.00 ➝ $410.00+12.77%
9/17/2026
Peter Weed
4 of 5 stars
DowngradeOutperform ➝ Market Perform$253.00 ➝ $351.00-6.56%
9/11/2026
Wedbush logo
Wedbush
5 of 5 stars
Initiated CoverageOutperform$400.00+18.17%
9/8/2026Reiterated RatingOverweight$425.00+27.53%
9/7/2026DowngradeBuy ➝ Neutral
9/7/2026 DowngradeModerate Buy ➝ Hold$320.00 ➝ $346.00+2.68%
9/3/2026 Lower Target$201.00 ➝ $190.00-43.19%
9/3/2026Reiterated RatingBuy$425.00+30.43%
9/2/2026 Reiterated RatingBuy$371.00 ➝ $390.00+18.73%
9/2/2026Set Target$400.00+21.44%
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9/2/2026 Reiterated RatingBuy$350.00 ➝ $430.00+29.31%
9/2/2026Set TargetEqual Weight$370.00 ➝ $400.00+21.44%
9/2/2026 Set TargetMarket Perform$302.00 ➝ $360.00+9.30%
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingNeutral$210.00 ➝ $300.00-8.72%
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingOutperform$400.00 ➝ $450.00+24.28%
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingOverweight$345.00 ➝ $410.00+13.23%
9/2/2026Set TargetOutperform$400.00 ➝ $420.00+15.99%
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingBuy
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingOverweight$370.00 ➝ $375.00+3.57%
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingNeutral
9/2/2026DowngradeSector Outperform ➝ Hold
9/2/2026Boost TargetOutperform$380.00 ➝ $400.00+19.60%
9/2/2026 Boost TargetOverweight$421.00 ➝ $428.00+27.97%
9/2/2026Boost TargetBuy$345.00 ➝ $420.00+27.81%
9/2/2026Boost TargetOutperform$434.00 ➝ $475.00+31.18%
9/2/2026Boost TargetPositive$350.00 ➝ $415.00+14.61%
9/2/2026Boost TargetBuy$380.00 ➝ $404.00+11.57%
9/2/2026Reiterated RatingBuy$425.00+17.37%
9/2/2026Boost TargetBuy$355.00 ➝ $415.00+14.61%
9/1/2026 Reiterated RatingHold (C-)
8/31/2026Reiterated RatingOutperform
8/28/2026Reiterated RatingBuy$335.00 ➝ $450.00+17.54%
8/25/2026Boost TargetOverweight$326.00 ➝ $384.00+9.43%
8/24/2026Boost TargetBuy$340.00 ➝ $400.00+11.72%
8/21/2026Boost TargetHold$290.00 ➝ $350.00+4.66%
8/20/2026Reiterated RatingOutperform$335.00 ➝ $415.00+15.57%
8/19/2026Reiterated RatingNeutral$300.00 ➝ $390.00+8.32%
8/19/2026Set TargetOutperform$305.00 ➝ $415.00+15.26%
8/19/2026Set TargetBuy$330.00 ➝ $415.00+10.92%
8/18/2026 Set Target$415.00+10.44%
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8/17/2026Reiterated RatingOverweight$420.00 ➝ $475.00+23.61%
8/12/2026Boost TargetMarket Outperform$320.00 ➝ $415.00+8.88%
7/15/2026Boost TargetBuy$245.00 ➝ $430.00+19.97%
7/1/2026Reiterated RatingOutperform
6/29/2026 Boost TargetBuy$185.00 ➝ $433.00+42.34%
6/16/2026 Reiterated RatingOutperform
6/3/2026 Reiterated RatingOutperform$320.00+7.68%
6/3/2026Boost TargetBuy$290.00 ➝ $360.00+21.14%
2/24/2026 Lower TargetOutperform$212.00 ➝ $175.00+21.41%
11/20/2025Reiterated RatingHold
10/20/2025Boost TargetBuy$215.00 ➝ $240.00+12.86%
7/31/2025DowngradeOverweight ➝ Sector Weight
5/21/2025Reiterated RatingBuy$230.00 ➝ $230.00+18.26%
11/7/2024 Reiterated RatingMixed ➝ Negative

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Friday at 03:57 PM ET.


Should I Buy Palo Alto Networks Stock? PANW Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Wednesday, September 23, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these Palo Alto Networks pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Palo Alto Networks
Bull Case

green Wall Street bull icon

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in Palo Alto Networks, Inc.:

  • The launch of Unit 42 Continuous Frontier AI Defense, an agentic offensive security service that uses gated models from Anthropic and OpenAI to continuously identify and remediate enterprise vulnerabilities, strengthens the company's positioning in AI-driven cybersecurity and differentiates it from competitors.
  • The Prisma AIRS product surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, providing concrete evidence of strong enterprise demand for securing AI applications and expanding attack surfaces, which supports the company's growth narrative.
  • Palo Alto Networks, Inc. reported $1.02 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98, while revenue of $3.41 billion exceeded expectations and grew 34.5% year-over-year, demonstrating strong operational execution.
  • The stock is trading at $393.30, near its 52-week high of $398.88, and cybersecurity stocks are rallying as investors treat the sector as a mission-critical, defensive area of software spending, even as broader large-cap technology stocks weaken.
  • Institutional investors are increasing their stakes, with QRG Capital Management Inc. buying 17,982 shares and State Street Corp growing its position by 4.2% in the second quarter, indicating strong confidence from large funds in the company's long-term value.

Palo Alto Networks
Bear Case

red Wall Street bear icon

Investors should be bearish about investing in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. for these reasons:

  • The company trades at a very elevated price-to-earnings ratio of 771.19, which leaves the stock vulnerable to significant downside if AI security adoption or execution disappoints, as the valuation demands sustained high growth.
  • Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares for approximately $7.5 million in a recent transaction, which serves as a cautionary signal of insider selling, although a single director sale does not necessarily indicate a change in the company's fundamentals.
  • Insiders sold 28,322 shares of company stock valued at $10,546,409 in the last 90 days, suggesting that corporate insiders are reducing their ownership stakes, which may reflect a lack of confidence in the current valuation or future performance.
  • The company has a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87, indicating that its current liabilities exceed its current assets, which could pose liquidity challenges if revenue growth slows or costs increase unexpectedly.
  • HSBC dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a recent research report, reflecting a more conservative outlook from some analysts despite the overall consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

PANW Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 50 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Palo Alto Networks is $390.02, with a high forecast of $475.00 and a low forecast of $175.00.

50 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Palo Alto Networks in the last year. There are currently 12 hold ratings and 38 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" PANW shares.

According to analysts, Palo Alto Networks's stock has a predicted upside of 4.23% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Palo Alto Networks's stock had 4 downgrades and 1 upgrade by analysts.

Analysts like Palo Alto Networks more than other "technology" companies. The consensus rating for Palo Alto Networks is Moderate Buy while the average consensus rating for "technology" companies is Hold. Learn more on how PANW compares to other companies.


MarketBeat monitors more than a dozen sources for Palo Alto Networks analyst ratings, with the most recent rating issued on 9/21/2026.
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