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Palo Alto Networks Inc. shares surged in the extended session Monday after the cybersecurity company topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter, issued a strong outlook for the year, and announced a stock split.
Palo Alto Networks
PANW,
shares rallied more than 7% after hours, following a 1.1% decline in the regular session to close at $508.05. The company said its board declared a three-for-one stock split to take effect on Sept. 14.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, Palo Alto Networks reported net income of $3.3 million, or 3 cents a share, versus a loss of $119.3 million, or $1.23 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings, which exclude share-based compensation charges and other items, were $2.39 a share, compared with $1.60 a share in the year-ago period.
The security-software company’s revenue rose to $1.55 billion from $1.22 billion in the year-ago quarter. Billings, which reflects future business under contract, rose 44% to $2.7 billion from a year ago.
Analysts had forecast earnings of $2.28 a share on revenue of $1.54 billion and billings of $2.33 billion, based on Palo Alto Networks’ forecast of $2.26 to $2.29 a share on revenue of $1.53 billion to $1.55 billion and billings of $2.32 billion to $2.35 billion.
“We were pleased by our fourth quarter results, which included GAAP profitability for the first time in four years,” Nikesh Arora, chairman and chief executive of Palo Alto Networks, said in a statement.
Palo Alto Networks said it expects adjusted earnings of $2.03 to $2.06 a share on revenue of $1.54 billion to $1.56 billion and billings of $1.68 billion to $1.7 billion for the fiscal first quarter, and $9.40 to $9.50 a share on revenue of $6.85 billion to $6.9 billion and billings of $8.95 billion to $9.05 billion for the year.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast $2.03 a share on revenue of $1.54 billion and billings of $1.69 billion for the first quarter, and $9.27 a share on revenue of $6.74 billion and billings of $8.58 billion for the year.
Back in May, the company increased its annual outlook for a third quarter in a row, to full-year outlook to adjusted earnings of $7.43 to $7.46 a share, revenue of $5.48 billion to $5.5 billion, and billings of $7.11 billion to $7.14 billion. The company reported adjusted earnings of $7.56 a share on revenue of $5.5 billion and billings of $7.47 billion.
Palo Alto Networks shares are down 9% for the year. In comparison, the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF
HACK,
is down 20%, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
down 13%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
if off 20%.
