Palo Alto Lifts Guidance After Q3 Results Beat as Cybersecurity Demand Shines

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Investing.com — Palo Alto Networks raised its annual guidance on performance Thursday after reporting better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results that were bolstered by strong cybersecurity demand.    

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was up more than 10% in afterhours trading following the report.

Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $1.79 on revenue of $1.39 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.68 and $1.36 billion, respectively. 

“We saw strong top-line growth in Q3, which is a testament to our teams’ consistent execution in capitalizing on the strong cybersecurity demand trends,” the company said. 

The company raised forecasts for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of between $2.26 and $2.29 per share ahead of analysts’ estimates for $2.22. Revenue was forecast in a range of $1.53 billion to $1.55 billion, in line with estimates for $1.53 billion.  

Looking ahead, the company raised its guidance for the year across revenue, billings and earnings per share.

For fiscal year 2022, earnings were expected in a range of $7.43 to $7.46 per share on revenue of between $5.481 billion and $5.501 billion, ahead of Wall Street forecasts for $7.29 per share and $5.47 billion, respectively. Palo Alto previously forecast revenue in the range of $5.425 billion to $5.475 billion and earnings per share in the range of $7.23 to $7.30.