Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) shares extended their rally on Tuesday following better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter and an upbeat outlook for the current quarter.
The Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company reported a loss of $92.2 million, or 97 cents per share for the three-month period ended October 31, wider than a loss of $59.6 million, or 62 cents per share in the comparable period last year. However, on an adjusted basis, earnings rose to $1.62 per share, easily surpassing analysts’ average estimate of $1.33 per share.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $946 million, up from $771.9 million in the same period, one year ago. Analysts surveyed by Factset were looking for revenue of $921.7 million. The total billing in the quarter reached to $1.08 billion, beating the consensus forecast of $1.04 billion.
Speaking on the results, the company’s CEO Nikesh Arora said in a statement “we delivered another consecutive strong quarter of solid results, with first quarter billings of 21% year-over-year growth; both our firewall transformation and our Next-Generation Security services continue to make great progress, giving us confidence to raise previously issued guidance for the year."
Palo Alto also offered strong financial outlook for the second quarter. The company projected adjusted profit in the range of $1.42 per share to $1.44 per share and revenue between $975 million and $990 million. The guidance was better than analysts’ average estimate of $1.37 per share for adjusted earnings and $972.9 million for revenue.
Palo Alto (NYSE: PANW) shares hit a 52-week high of $289.70 in the mid-day trading Tuesday. The stock is trading on heavy volume of 1.8 million shares, as compared to the daily average volume of 1.2 million shares. At the current trading price, the company’s market capitalization stands at approx. $27.451 billion.
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