Palo Alto Beats Q4 on AI Demand, Buys Startup Console — SkimNews
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- Palo Alto Networks beat fiscal Q4 estimates with adjusted EPS of $1.02 vs. 98 cents expected and revenue of $3.41 billion vs. $3.35 billion expected, with revenue jumping 34% year-over-year from $2.54 billion.
- Palo Alto Networks reported a net loss of $282 million (35 cents per share), reversing net income of $254 million (36 cents per share) a year ago, while shares dipped about 2% in extended trading following a 5% regular-session drop.
- CEO Nikesh Arora attributed demand to accelerating AI-powered attacks, citing the OpenAI-Hugging Face hack as proof that agents can autonomously orchestrate attacks, and said Palo Alto has held over 2,000 customer briefings, up from roughly 1,200 last quarter.
- Palo Alto Networks announced the acquisition of AI startup Console, extending an aggressive dealmaking push that included a $25 billion deal for CyberArk and roughly $3.4 billion for Chronosphere.
- Palo Alto Networks issued upbeat guidance, forecasting $3.30–$3.31 billion in Q1 revenue (above the $3.22 billion analyst estimate) and $14.10–$14.20 billion for the full year with adjusted EPS of $4.16–$4.19.
- Shares of Palo Alto Networks have nearly doubled this year as the launch of Anthropic's Mythos model spurred demand for tools to detect agentic cyberattacks, though peers CrowdStrike and Okta also surged last week on similar AI-security tailwinds.
Why it matters: Palo Alto Networks is converting AI-driven threat fears into a durable revenue engine — Q4 revenue grew 34% YoY and full-year guidance of $14.10–$14.20 billion topped the $13.79 billion Street view — while spending aggressively ($25B for CyberArk, ~$3.4B for Chronosphere) to consolidate the AI-security stack before competitors CrowdStrike and Okta close the gap.
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