:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1604945004-3a7563b14b614f1c918a3b443e587f54.jpg "What you need to know before Palo Alto Networks’ earnings report")
Key findings
- Palo Alto Networks will announce fourth quarter results on Monday, August 19.
- Analysts expect the cybersecurity company to report revenue and profit growth compared to the same period last year.
- Investors will likely be paying attention to full-year 2025 guidance and potential updates on the impact of the CrowdStrike outage.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) will report fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes on August 19. At the end, investors are likely looking for a strong outlook for 2025 and news on its “platformization” strategy.
Analysts are forecasting revenue to rise to $2.16 billion from $1.95 billion a year ago, according to estimates from Visible Alpha. Net income is expected to be $232.9 million, or 66 cents per share, up slightly from the same period last year but also down from the previous quarter.
| Analyst estimates for Q4 2024 | 3rd quarter 2024 | 4th quarter 2023 | |
| revenue | 2.16 billion US dollars | 1.99 billion US dollars | 1.95 billion US dollars |
| Diluted earnings per share | 66 cents | 79 cents | 64 cents |
| Net income | 232.9 million US dollars | 278.8 million US dollars | 227.7 million US dollars |
Key figures: Outlook 2025
Buying fatigue among Palo Alto Networks’ customers has been a major theme in the company’s results over the past few quarters, pointing to headwinds in the cybersecurity industry. Palo Alto Networks’ forecast has been used as an indicator for the sector.
The company is expected to provide guidance for the full fiscal year 2025. Analysts expect revenue of $9.09 billion. Last year, Palo Alto provided forecasts for revenue, sales, net income per share and free cash flow margins.
Business Spotlight: Impact of the CrowdStrike Outage
Palo Alto Networks has advanced its platformization efforts by consolidating its cybersecurity services on its platform and bundling offerings to become a one-stop shop and combat spending fatigue.
While Palo Alto Networks has indicated that the platformization has been well received by customers, the recent global outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike (CRWD) update may raise questions about the market outlook.
The company may also comment on whether the incident could lead to customers leaving CrowdStrike and looking for other cybersecurity providers, which analysts say could attract customers to Palo Alto Networks.
Palo Alto shares were little changed Monday. The stock is expected to rise more than 12% in 2024, but below February highs.
