Palo Alto Networks shares rise on better-than-expected earnings report

Shares in Palo Alto Networks Inc. rose in after-hours trading after the network management and security firm beat estimates in its latest earnings report.

For its fiscal second quarter ended Jan. 31, Palo Alto Networks reported a profit before costs such as stock compensation of $185 million, or $1.74 per share, up from $154.2 million, or $1.44 per share, for the same quarter of last year. Revenue in the quarter rose 30% from a year ago, to $1.3 billion.

Analysts had been expecting an adjusted profit of $1.65 on revenue of $1.28 billion.

Palo Alto Networks broke down its second-quarter 2022 growth in an earnings presentation. In the quarter, total billings came in at $1.61 billion, up 32% year-over-year, while remaining performance obligation rose 36%, to $6.3 billion. The company’s next-generation security and software portfolio led growth with annual recurring revenue of $1.43 billion, up 10% from a year ago.

In the quarter, Palo Alto Networks landed 221 new seven-figure clients, bringing its total number of “active millionaire customers” to 1,077.

“In Q2, our company continued to benefit from strength across our three security platforms, driven by strong cybersecurity demand, organizations architecting for hybrid work and growing their hyperscale cloud footprints,” Nikesh Arora (pictured), chairman and chief executive officer of Palo Alto Networks, said in a statement. “On the back of this strength, notably in our next-generation security offerings, we are raising our guidance for the year across revenue, billings, and earnings per share.”

As for that guidance, for its fiscal third quarter the company predicts an adjusted profit per share of $1.65 to $1.68 on revenue of $1.345 billion to $1.365 billion. For the full fiscal year 2022, it expects an adjusted profit of $7.23 to $7.30 a share on revenue of $5.425 billion to $5.475 billion.

Investors liked the results, as Palo Alto Network’s shares rose more than 6% after the bell.

Along with its earnings announcement, Palo Alto Networks also announced Cortex XSIAM, an artificial intelligence-driven platform that can revolutionize how data, analytics and automation are deployed by security organizations.

Extended Security Intelligence & Automation Management or XSIAM is claimed to turn widespread infrastructure telemetry into an intelligent data foundation to fuel best-in-class artificial intelligence and dramatically accelerate threat response. Built from the ground up as an autonomous security platform, XSIAM is pitched as disrupting the multibillion-dollar security information and event management category by offering a modern alternative that can stay ahead of today’s threat landscape.

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