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Palo Alto (PANW) to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Offing?

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Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) is scheduled to report its first-quarter fiscal 2024 results on Nov 15.

Palo Alto projects its fiscal first-quarter revenues in the range of $1.82-$1.85 billion, suggesting a year-over-year increase of 16-18%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $1.84 billion, implying growth of 17.8% from the year-ago reported figure.

For the fiscal first quarter, the company expects non-GAAP earnings in the range of $1.15-$1.17 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PANW’s non-GAAP earnings is pegged at $1.16 per share, indicating an increase of 39.8% from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 83 cents.

Palo Alto’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 22.2%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Quote

Factors to Consider

In the first quarter, Palo Alto is likely to have benefited from the strong momentum stemming from deal wins, which is expected to have boosted its top line. The strong demand for form factor hardware products, particularly machine learning-powered models that ensure zero-trust network security for organizations, is expected to have contributed to the quarterly performance.

The growing and accelerated migration to the cloud in a post-pandemic era is likely to have boosted the adoption of the aforementioned platforms. The company projects year-over-year billings growth between 17% and 19% ($2.05-$2.08 billion) in the to-be-reported quarter. Our estimate for billings is pegged at $2.07 billion.

Moreover, the increased use of the cloud and remote networks amid a hybrid working environment has resulted in escalating cyberattacks. This is leading to a rise in the demand for cybersecurity solutions. PANW’s fiscal first-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from this demand surge.

Palo Alto has been gaining from the Bridgecrew acquisition, which forms the crux of the Prisma public cloud and Xpanse, which encompasses the basis of Cortex. Prisma and Cortex are likely to have continued performing well in the fiscal first quarter as well.

Our estimates for the company’s Product and Subscription & Support revenues are pegged at $372.7 million and $1.46 billion, respectively.

Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) recognitions are boosting the adoption of Palo Alto’s products by government organizations. The company’s Prisma Access, Cortex XDR, Cortex Data Lake, Prisma Cloud and WildFire received FedRAMP recognitions.

This FedRAMP recognition reflects the U.S. public sector’s trust in PANW’s IoT security solutions. This is anticipated to have encouraged the adoption of its products during the period in discussion.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for PANW this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.

Though Palo Alto currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2, it has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Per our model, NetEase (NTES - Free Report) , Synopsys (SNPS - Free Report) and Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

NetEase sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has an Earnings ESP of +0.30% at present. The company is slated to report third-quarter fiscal 2023 results on Nov 16. NTES’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the trailing four quarters while missing the same on one occasion, the average surprise being 24.54%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTES’ third-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.65 per share, suggesting an increase of 3.77% from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $1.59. NTES’ quarterly revenues are estimated to increase 10.8% year over year to $3.80 billion.

Synopsys carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has an Earnings ESP of +0.94%. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 results on Nov 29. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, with the average surprise being 4.23%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNPS’ fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $3.04 per share, 59.2% higher than the year-ago quarter. It is estimated to report revenues of $1.58 billion, which suggests an increase of approximately 23.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Applied Materials carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +0.86%. The company is slated to report fourth-quarter 2023 results on Nov 16. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 10.43%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAT’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.98 per share, indicating a year-over-year decline of 2.46%. The consensus mark for revenues is pinned at $6.52 billion, suggesting a year-over-year decrease of 3.35%.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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