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Santa Clara, California-based Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) is a leading cybersecurity company with a market cap of $127 billion. Its offerings include advanced firewalls, cloud security, network security, endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and security automation platforms.
Companies valued at $10 billion or more are typically classified as “large-cap stocks,” and PANW fits the label perfectly, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the software - infrastructure industry. The company is best known for pioneering the next-generation firewall (NGFW) and has since expanded into a broad portfolio of security solutions. With continuous innovation in AI, machine learning, and automation, it has become one of the most influential players in the industry.
Despite its notable strength, this cybersecurity giant has dipped 9.4% from its 52-week high of $210.39, reached on Jul. 29. Moreover, shares of PANW have fallen 2.2% over the past three months, considerably lagging behind the Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 10.6% return during the same time frame.
In the longer term, PANW has gained 5.1% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming NASX's 20.1% uptick over the same time period. Moreover, on a YTD basis, shares of PANW are up 4.7%, compared to NASX’s 10.2% surge.
To confirm its recent bullish trend, PANW has started trading above its 200-day and 50-day moving averages since late August.
On Aug. 18, PANW released better-than-expected Q4 results, and its shares soared 3.1% in the following trading session. The company’s quarterly revenue came in at $2.5 billion, up 15.8% from the year-ago quarter and 1.6% ahead of analyst estimates. Moreover, its adjusted EPS of $0.95 improved by an impressive 26.7% year-over-year, beating consensus estimates by 8%. Additionally, PANW exited fiscal 2025 with accelerating RPO and crossed the $10 billion revenue run-rate milestone, reinforcing its strong positioning for sustained growth.
PANW has outperformed its rival, Fortinet, Inc.’s (FTNT) marginal gain over the past 52 weeks and an 18.6% drop on a YTD basis.
Despite PANW’s recent underperformance, analysts remain moderately optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy” from the 49 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $215.07 suggests a 12.9% premium to its current price levels.
On the date of publication, Neharika Jain did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
