Palo Alto jumps 7.0% after reporting Q2 results

Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) on Tuesday said its Q2 profit and revenue topped Street estimates. Shares are up 7.0% in extended trading on upbeat full-year guidance.

Q2 results

• Lost $93.5 million (95 cents a share) versus last year’s $142.3 million ($1.48 a share).
• Adjusted EPS came in at $1.74, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.65.
• Revenue noted a 30% annualised growth and topped experts’ forecast by $110 million.
• At $1.61 billion, billings jumped 33% YoY. This compared to analysts at $1.52 billion.

Palo Alto ended the quarter with $1.93 billion in cash and equivalents. In the earnings press release, CFO Dipak Golechha said:

Future outlook

For fiscal Q3, Palo Alto expects its EPS, revenue, and billings to fall between $1.65 and $1.68, $1.35 billion and $1.37 billion, and $1.59 billion and $1.61 billion, respectively – all ahead of analysts’ estimates.

The cybersecurity company raised its full-year guidance for adjusted EPS to $7.23 to $7.30. It expects up to $5.48 billion in revenue this year on $6.8 billion to $6.85 billion of billings. In comparison, analysts were calling for $7.23 of adjusted per-share earnings, $5.39 billion in revenue and $6.72 billion of billings. CEO Nikesh Arora said: