Palo Alto Networks stock price news: Shares plunge 11% despite strong fiscal fourth quarter results

Shares of Palo Alto Networks plunged 11% in Wednesday's trade, 2 September, sliding to around $322 apiece as investors appeared disappointed with the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results, despite the numbers coming in above Wall Street expectations.

The decline also marked the stock's second consecutive session of losses, dragging shares to their lowest level in more than a month.

The company on Tuesday reported its fiscal fourth-quarter performance, with revenue climbing 34% year over year to $3.41 billion, while adjusted earnings came in at $4.16 to $4.19 per share.

"We delivered a strong Q4 to close out the year, adding nearly $1 billion of Net New NGS ARR in a single quarter," said Nikesh Arora, chairman and chief executive officer of Palo Alto Networks. "The latest advancements in AI are elevating cybersecurity to the top of the CIO priority list and will serve as durable tailwinds as we progress towards our $20 billion FY30 NGS ARR target."

Dipak Golechha, chief financial officer of Palo Alto Networks, said, "We delivered a strong finish to a record year and exceeded our guidance across the board, fueled by strength across our Network & AI Security, Cortex, and Idira platforms."

"Our profitable growth framework continues to scale effectively, reinforcing our confidence in achieving 40% adjusted free cash flow margin in FY28," Golechha further added.

Looking ahead, the Santa Clara, California-based company issued a first-quarter sales outlook above expectations, signalling that the momentum from the fourth quarter could continue.

It expects first-quarter revenue to range between $3.30 billion and $3.31 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $3.21 billion. For the full fiscal year, the company expects total revenue to range between $14.10 billion and $14.20 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 23% to 24%.

Meanwhile, the company also announced the acquisition of Console, an AI-native platform that enables agentic workflows across enterprise operations. Palo Alto Networks expects the acquisition to expand its Cortex platform across the broader enterprise agentic transformation.

Palo Alto Networks shares up nearly 100% in 2026

Palo Alto Networks shares were up 97% this year through Tuesday's close, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 Index's 11% gain over the same period.

The rally has been supported by intensifying concerns about AI-powered cyberattacks and data breaches, which have kept cybersecurity stocks firmly in focus.

Zooming out, the stock has maintained a strong long-term winning streak since 2017, closing eight of the past nine years in positive territory, including a blockbuster 110% gain in 2023. During this period, Palo Alto Networks shares climbed from $20.84 to Tuesday's closing price of around $362, translating into a massive gain of approximately 1,640%.

(With inputs from agencies)

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