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Can Identity Security Become PANW's Next Major Growth Engine?
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Key Takeaways
PANW launched Idira to secure human, machine and AI identities with AI-powered governance.
Palo Alto Networks sees AI agents creating identity risks that traditional systems may not manage well.
PANW expects CyberArk to expand cross-selling opportunities and support platformization efforts.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW - Free Report) is positioning identity security as one of its next major growth pillars as enterprises prepare for the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workloads and autonomous AI agents. The company recently completed its acquisition of CyberArk and is already expanding its identity security portfolio with the launch of Idira, a next-generation identity security platform built for the AI enterprise.
Identity is becoming one of the most important security layers in the AI era. As AI agents gain autonomous access to enterprise applications, infrastructure and sensitive data, PANW sees identity evolving into the primary attack vector. During the first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call, management stated that AI agents logging in at machine speed could create risks that traditional identity systems may not be able to handle. PANW is therefore focusing on protecting human, machine and agentic identities through a unified platform approach.
The newly launched Idira platform strengthens this strategy. The platform combines privileged access management, machine identity security and AI-driven governance capabilities. PANW stated that machine and AI identities now massively outnumber humans in the ratio of 109-to-1, while most privileged access requests still rely on standing privileges, increasing security risks.
Idira is designed to address these issues through zero standing privilege controls, AI-powered visibility and automated governance. The company believes this platform can help enterprises move beyond traditional identity management toward broader identity security. CyberArk also gives PANW a larger opportunity to cross-sell identity solutions across its installed customer base. In the first quarter, management highlighted early collaboration between Palo Alto Networks and CyberArk sales teams, and expects additional opportunities over time.
PANW also sees identity security as a key part of its broader platformization strategy that combines network, cloud, endpoint and AI security into a more unified architecture. As enterprises increase AI adoption, identity security could become an increasingly important growth driver for PANW.
How Competitors Fare Against PANW
Competitors like Okta Inc. (OKTA - Free Report) and CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) are the key players competing with PANW in identity security.
Okta is best known for its identity and access management solutions. Okta has been adding AI-driven tools that automate risk detection and reduce manual processes in managing user access. Enterprises can implement Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI to leverage AI and machine learning techniques for real-time detection of the entire spectrum of Identity attacks.
On the fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call, CrowdStrike stated that its Next-Gen Identity business ended fiscal 2026 with more than $520 million in annual recurring revenues (ARR), growing more than 34% year over year and outpacing the company’s overall ARR growth of 24%. The increase is being supported by the rising demand for identity protection.
PANW’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Palo Alto Networks have jumped 23.2% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Security industry’s return of 13.1%.
PANW’s YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Palo Alto Networks trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 14.35X compared with the industry’s average of 12.73X. The Zacks Value Score of F also suggests that PANW stock is overvalued.
PANW Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 10.8% and 7.5%, respectively. The estimate for fiscal 2026 has been unchanged over the past 30 days, while the same for fiscal 2027 has been revised down by a penny over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Palo Alto Networks currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
Can Identity Security Become PANW's Next Major Growth Engine?
Key Takeaways
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW - Free Report) is positioning identity security as one of its next major growth pillars as enterprises prepare for the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workloads and autonomous AI agents. The company recently completed its acquisition of CyberArk and is already expanding its identity security portfolio with the launch of Idira, a next-generation identity security platform built for the AI enterprise.
Identity is becoming one of the most important security layers in the AI era. As AI agents gain autonomous access to enterprise applications, infrastructure and sensitive data, PANW sees identity evolving into the primary attack vector. During the first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call, management stated that AI agents logging in at machine speed could create risks that traditional identity systems may not be able to handle. PANW is therefore focusing on protecting human, machine and agentic identities through a unified platform approach.
The newly launched Idira platform strengthens this strategy. The platform combines privileged access management, machine identity security and AI-driven governance capabilities. PANW stated that machine and AI identities now massively outnumber humans in the ratio of 109-to-1, while most privileged access requests still rely on standing privileges, increasing security risks.
Idira is designed to address these issues through zero standing privilege controls, AI-powered visibility and automated governance. The company believes this platform can help enterprises move beyond traditional identity management toward broader identity security. CyberArk also gives PANW a larger opportunity to cross-sell identity solutions across its installed customer base. In the first quarter, management highlighted early collaboration between Palo Alto Networks and CyberArk sales teams, and expects additional opportunities over time.
PANW also sees identity security as a key part of its broader platformization strategy that combines network, cloud, endpoint and AI security into a more unified architecture. As enterprises increase AI adoption, identity security could become an increasingly important growth driver for PANW.
How Competitors Fare Against PANW
Competitors like Okta Inc. (OKTA - Free Report) and CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) are the key players competing with PANW in identity security.
Okta is best known for its identity and access management solutions. Okta has been adding AI-driven tools that automate risk detection and reduce manual processes in managing user access. Enterprises can implement Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI to leverage AI and machine learning techniques for real-time detection of the entire spectrum of Identity attacks.
On the fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call, CrowdStrike stated that its Next-Gen Identity business ended fiscal 2026 with more than $520 million in annual recurring revenues (ARR), growing more than 34% year over year and outpacing the company’s overall ARR growth of 24%. The increase is being supported by the rising demand for identity protection.
PANW’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Palo Alto Networks have jumped 23.2% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Security industry’s return of 13.1%.
PANW’s YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Palo Alto Networks trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 14.35X compared with the industry’s average of 12.73X. The Zacks Value Score of F also suggests that PANW stock is overvalued.
PANW Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 10.8% and 7.5%, respectively. The estimate for fiscal 2026 has been unchanged over the past 30 days, while the same for fiscal 2027 has been revised down by a penny over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Palo Alto Networks currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.