Palo Alto Networks财报超预期后股价仍下跌，华尔街分析师集体看好但市场不买账

Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) shares slipped 2.5% in premarket trading on Wednesday even after the cybersecurity company received praise from Wall Street for its stronger-than-expected results and guidance . Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo called Palo Alto's results a “blockbuster” and said he sees more upside to the company's “impressive” guidance for fiscal 2027, driven by artificial intelligence. “This was the cleanest print for PANW in a while, w/ F4Q seeing some Mythos benefit, although [management] noted we're still early days,” Gallo wrote in a note to clients. “FY27 rev guide of $14.15B (23% yoy) beat cons (21%) & most importantly still feels ripe for upside given it embeds a decel in the core NetSec/AI segment & the recent strength in bookings.” Gallo has a Buy rating and a $450 price target on Palo Alto. Bank of America analyst Tal Liani reiterated his Buy rating and $420 price target on Palo Alto and said any weakness in the stock is a buying opportunity. “Though NGS ARR beat consensus by roughly 3%, we believe elevated expectations likely had investors looking for a stronger result to drive a more positive stock reaction,” Liani wrote in a note to clients. “In that context, the muted after-hours response appears more reflective of the demanding setup than any deterioration in quarterly execution, in our view.” J.P. Morgan analyst Brian Essex (who has a $384 price target on Palo Alto) said the Nikesh Arora-led firm is delivering “solid execution” and is benefiting as tailwinds from artificial intelligence accelerate. "[Chief Information Officer] urgency to improve security posture has accelerated in a post-Mythos environment and we continue to view PANW as well-positioned in the right place at the right time with the ability to leverage its platform to help CIOs adapt to a fundamental AI-driven shift in the cybersecurity landscape,” Essex wrote in a note to clients. “In addition to being able to provide a platform to promote faster mean time to response for customers, PANW cited demand to address technical debt by consolidating legacy IT point solutions onto its platform. We are encouraged by the acceleration and momentum in the quarter and remain Overweight rated as we adjust our estimates to reflect current period results and outlook.” Following Palo Alto's results, Arora said in an interview that nearly $1T of cybersecurity infrastructure is unprepared for AI.