PANW Stock Rises 7%, Palo Alto Networks Beats Expectations in Q2 2022 Financial Results

Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ: PANW) stock traded around $511.50, up approximately 7% in today’s premarket. The network security company reported its fiscal second-quarter 2022 financial results on February 22 that ostensibly beat analysts’ expectations. According to the report, Palo Alto Networks recorded a revenue of $1.3 billion, a 30 percent spike year over year, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.86%.

The GAAP net loss for the fiscal second quarter of 2022 was $93.5 million, which corresponds to $0.95 per diluted share. Notably, the company recorded a GAAP net loss of $142.3 million, approximately $1.48 per diluted share, for the fiscal second quarter of 2021.

Worth noting, the company’s Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal second quarter of 2022 came in at $185.0 million, approximately $1.74 per diluted share. Last year at a time like now, the company reported a non-GAAP net income of $154.2 million, approximately $1.55 per diluted share.

“Total shareholder return was at the forefront of our Q2 results as we continued to deliver on accelerated revenue growth and strong cash flow generation as well as returned capital to shareholders,” said Dipak Golechha, the chief financial officer of Palo Alto Networks.

The company indicated that strong demand for its products was a major factor in its performance during the reported quarter.

“In Q2, our company continued to benefit from strength across our three security platforms, driven by strong cybersecurity demand, organizations architecting for hybrid work and growing their hyperscale cloud footprints,” said Nikesh Arora, chairman, and CEO of Palo Alto Networks.

Palo Alto Networks Stock and Market Outlook

As a technology-based company, Palo Alto Networks stock significantly benefited from the Covid-19 crisis. However, its YTD performance has been on a decline. According to market analytics provided by MarketWatch, PANW shares are up approximately 28.65 percent in the past year. However, they are down approximately 14.59 percent, 13.50 percent, and 9.67 percent YTD, the last three months, and the past five days respectively through Tuesday.

The $47.57 billion company received an average rating of Buy from 38 ratings. Wall Street analysts are optimistic based on the company’s strong fundamental factors.

For the fiscal third quarter of 2022, the company expects total billings in the range of $1.59 billion to $1.61 billion. Thereby representing year-over-year growth of between 24% and 25%.

Additionally, the company said it expects total revenue in the range of $1.345 billion to $1.365 billion, thus representing year-over-year growth of between 25% and 27%.

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