Tag Archives: impv

Palo Alto Networks’ Q3 Seen Hitting 2014 Trough Levels Amid Slowdown

Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) is expected late Thursday to report fiscal Q3 sales and earnings that decelerated to mid-2014 trough levels, with further sales-growth slowing expected in fiscal Q4, according to the consensus of 43 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. In early afternoon trading on the stock market today , Palo Alto Networks stock was up a fraction, near 145. The rise underperformed IBD’s 26-company Computer Software-Security industry group, which jumped 1.6%. A weak April-quarter earnings report by the company could stoke further questions of a broad cybersecurity slowdown . This month, investment bank Piper Jaffray noted slowing demand for Palo Alto Networks products, citing its own checks of the sales channel. Palo Alto’s results come after soft Q2 and fiscal 2016 guidance from security vendors  Check Point Software Technology ( CHKP ) and FireEye ( FEYE ). Imperva ( IMPV ) and Proofpoint ( PFPT ) likewise missed with their Q2 guidance, and Barracuda Networks ‘ ( CUDA ) and Fortinet ‘s ( FTNT ) full-year views lagged. For fiscal Q3, Palo Alto Networks is expected to report $339.5 million in sales and 42 cents earnings per share minus items, up a respective 45% and 83% vs. the year-earlier quarter. A company faces the prospect of lower percentage growth when it gets bigger, but Q3 sales would decelerate for the fourth consecutive quarter and would dip below 50% growth for the first time since June 2014. For the current fiscal Q4, the analyst consensus calls for 37% year-over-year growth, lagging the 53% growth average Palo Alto has enjoyed the past three years. Q3 EPS, as modeled, would break a five-quarter streak of triple-digit growth and touch a seven-quarter low. But analysts model 79% EPS ex items growth in fiscal Q4, which would top the 55% growth average for Palo Alto’s past three July quarters.

CyberArk Defies Broad Security Tumble On ‘Broadening’ Sales Views

CyberArk Software ( CYBR ) stock lifted Thursday on a bullish report from Imperial Capital that sees an 8% upside to the privileged account manager’s Q1 earnings, posted early this month, driven by increased cross-selling opportunities and broader greenfield adoption. Imperial Capital analyst Michael Kim kept his in-line rating on CyberArk stock, but boosted his price target to 45 from 41. In early afternoon trading on the stock market today , CyberArk stock was up 2%, near 42, and touched a six-week high at 42.94. But shares are 16% off a 2016 high of 49.56, achieved Jan. 22. The lift defied a fractional decline in IBD’s 26-company Computer Software-Security industry group. Shares of Imperva ( IMPV ), FireEye ( FEYE ),  Check Point Software Technology ( CHKP ) and  Symantec ( SYMC ) were all down more than 1% apiece Thursday afternoon. “At current levels, we think CyberArk shares offer balanced risk/reward,” Kim wrote in a research report. “Investors could become more constructive as the company gains greater scale and broader adoption of its new offerings.” Kim expects less volatile near-term license revenue growth and margin expansion. But he cut his 2017 earnings per share minus items view to $1.14 from $1.16 on expected investments in growth. Wall Street models $1.13, up 23% above 2016 views for 92 cents. CyberArk still has runway to add new customers, Kim wrote. During Q1, CyberArk added 100 new customers, bringing the company’s installed base to 2,600. Nearly a third of new customers added three or more products, “highlighting the company’s broadening cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.” In Q1, CyberArk also doubled its sales in its government, health care, retail, media and education segments. License revenue grew 38% vs. the year-earlier quarter, trailing 50% growth in the maintenance and professional services business.

F5 Networks A Buyer, Not Seller? Security Acquisition May Be Plan

F5 Networks ( FFIV ) could be a buyer, not a seller, and might use its sizable cash-on-hand to acquire a data center security  provider, says Pacific Crest Securities. Some analysts have speculated F5 Networks itself could be sold, amid its  slowing revenue growth . F5 Network stock has clawed back 7% in 2016 after falling 25% in 2015. But F5 Networks stock was down 1.5%, near 106, in early trading in the stock market today . Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Pacific Crest,  downgraded F5 Networks stock on Tuesday to sector weight. “Going forward, we see an increasing probability that M&A will have a greater role in defining (F5 Network’s) ‘third act,’ particularly given that F5 has excess cash reserves of $1 billion and robust operating cash flows that exceed $600 million annually,” he wrote in a research report. Seattle-based F5 is the leading maker of application delivery controllers (ADCs) — electronic boxes that direct data traffic to computer servers. ADCs optimize server workloads in corporate and telecom data centers, helping speed up websites and communication networks. F5 Networks has made some small security-related acquisitions , including Defense.Net, a provider of cloud-based security services that help protect websites from large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, as well as Israel-based Versafe, a maker of software that protects Web applications from malware, fraud and phishing attacks. F5 Network’s closest rival in application-based data center security is Imperva ( IMPV ), analysts say. The so-called perimeter firewall market — the main type of firewall — is a crowded field, with  Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ),  Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) among the vendors. Another concern is that F5’s revenue growth might not rebound in 2016, Bracelin said. “The Shasta appliance refresh cycle will not drive a return to double-digit product growth, at least not for any quarter this year, and that there is increasing execution risk with a higher probability of M&A within cloud security,” he added. F5 competes with  Citrix Systems ( CTXS ), as well as  Radware ( RDWR ) and  A10 Networks ( ATEN ).