Analysts Set Expectations for PANW Q1 Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Investment analysts at KeyCorp issued their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp analyst E. Heath expects that the network technology company will post earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter. KeyCorp currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $217.50 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Palo Alto Networks’ Q2 2026 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.47 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $0.62 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $227.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $189.51 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.28. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.