19 August 2025
If you are covering the latest financial results from Palo Alto Networks, please find below a comment from Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Palo Alto delivered a really solid set of results, producing a beat and raise in the process as cyber security spend continues to hold up despite external pressures. Revenues were up 16%, bolstered by strong margins, allowing the company to beat consensus with its guidance for the 12 months ahead. Much of this is due to a good pipeline of business too, with the large backlog to get through helping to drive revenue growth.
“The company’s share price had come under pressure of late as peers reported their numbers and concerns floated around with the purchase of CyberArc. However, those concerns have been firmly put to the bed as Palo Alto continues on this growth trajectory. There are a number of reasons for investors to continue to like the business too. Firstly, as mentioned, cyber security remains a priority for IT departments, so while budgets elsewhere are being cut, cyber security has remained resilient. High profile incidents only help to underscore the importance of Palo Alto’s services. Furthermore, the business is focused on building a customer platform, not only to enhance the experience for the customer, but to also get more data insights and expand on its product range.
“Finally, the fast adoption of AI, and in particular AI agents, has resulted in an explosion in the need for ID checks. This trend will show no sign of slowing down either as AI gets smarter and more widely adopted. The runway for growth is clearly there for Palo Alto and it is pleasing to see the business execute strongly as a result.”
