Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while Next-Generation Security ARR jumped 63% year over year.

  • Palo Alto Networks beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter.
  • The company’s fiscal first-quarter outlook came in above consensus expectations for both earnings and revenue.
  • The cybersecurity firm announced the acquisition of Console, an AI-native platform focused on agentic capabilities and enterprise operations.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) reported stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, with earnings and revenue topping consensus estimates. The cybersecurity firm also issued an upbeat outlook for fiscal 2027, while Next-Generation Security annual recurring revenue continued to grow sharply.

PANW shares, however, were down about 1% in after-hours trading at the time of writing, after ending the regular session over 5% lower.

Palo Alto Networks Tops Estimates

Palo Alto Networks reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.02, above the consensus estimate of $0.98, according to Fiscal.ai. Total revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 increased 34% year over year to $3.41 billion, also exceeding estimates of $3.35 billion.

Next-Generation Security (NGS) annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew 63% year over year to $9.10 billion in fiscal Q4 2026.

“We delivered a strong Q4 to close out the year, adding nearly $1B of Net New NGS ARR in a single quarter,” said Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks. He added that the latest advancements in AI are elevating cybersecurity to the top of the chief information officers' (CIOs) priority list and will serve as durable tailwinds as the company works towards its $20 billion FY30 NGS ARR target.

Palo Alto Issues Upbeat Guidance

Palo Alto Networks expects fiscal first-quarter 2027 adjusted EPS to come in between $0.96 and $0.98, based on 837 million to 844 million shares outstanding. The outlook is above the consensus estimate of $0.93 per share, according to Fiscal.ai.

Revenue for the quarter is projected at $3.30 billion to $3.31 billion, representing 33% to 34% year-over-year growth and coming in ahead of the $3.22 billion consensus estimate. The company also expects NGS ARR to reach $9.54 billion to $9.56 billion, up 63% year over year.

For fiscal 2027, Palo Alto Networks expects adjusted EPS of $4.16 to $4.19, based on 844 million to 847 million shares outstanding. That is above the consensus estimate of $4.11, according to Fiscal.ai.

Full-year revenue is expected to reach $14.10 billion to $14.20 billion, representing 23% to 24% growth from the prior year and exceeding the $13.83 billion consensus estimate. NGS ARR is projected at $11.075 billion to $11.175 billion, reflecting 22% to 23% year-over-year growth.

Palo Alto Networks Acquires Console

Palo Alto Networks also announced the acquisition of Console, an AI-native platform that enables agentic capabilities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Console is designed to help organizations apply AI-driven analysis and action across enterprise operations, giving them a force multiplier to resolve alerts, issues, and requests at machine speed. 

PANW Stock: Stocktwits Retail Sentiment

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for PANW was ‘extremely bullish,’ unchanged over the past 24 hours, while message volume was ‘high’ during the same period. Over the past seven days, message volume around the stock has surged 1,300%, while the ticker’s watcher base has risen 0.8%.

PANW stock has gained over 92% year-to-date, as increasingly capable AI models such as Anthropic’s Mythos drive demand for security tools designed to detect and respond to agentic cyberattacks. 

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