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Palo Alto Networks Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Monday after the cybersecurity company’s quarterly earnings-outlook range fell short of the Wall Street consensus, while beating estimates for the previous quarter.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks PANW, -3.16% fell 3.3% after hours, following a 3.2% decline in the regular session to close at $384.45.
Palo Alto Networks forecast adjusted earnings of $1.27 to $1.29 a share on revenue of $1.05 billion to $1.06 billion for the fiscal third quarter, and $5.80 to $5.90 a share on revenue of $4.15 billion to $4.2 billion for the year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $1.29 a share on revenue of $1.05 billion for the third quarter, and $5.79 a share on revenue of $4.12 billion for the year.
Meanwhile, the company reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $142.3 million, or $1.48 a share, compared with a loss of $73.7 million, or 75 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Adjusted earnings, which exclude share-based compensation charges and other items, were $1.55 a share, compared with $1.19 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.02 billion from $816.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.43 a share on revenue of $985.6 million, based on the company’s estimate of earnings of $1.42 to $1.44 a share on revenue of $975 million to $990 million.
Billings, which reflect future business under contract, rose to $1.21 billion, up from $999 million a year ago, while analysts had forecast billings $1.18 billion.
“The momentum in the business continues to be strong, with second-quarter revenue growth of 25% year over year to over $1 billion, driven by strong execution across the board,” said Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
Last week, the company, which is notable for its frequent acquisitions, said it would buy cloud-security company Bridgecrew for $156 million.
Palo Alto Networks shares are up 58% over the past 12 months. In comparison, the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF HACK, -2.33% is up 35%, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.77% is up 16%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.46% is up 41% over that time.
