By Davit Kirakosyan
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) shares soared more than 7% after-hours following the company’s reported Q4 results, with EPS of $2.39 coming in better than the consensus estimate of $2.28. Revenue increased 27% year-over-year to $1.6 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion.
“Next-Generation Security growth, driven by our rapid pace of innovation and strong sales execution, drove our results. As cybersecurity posture remains critical, our integrated three-platform strategy continues to drive large deal momentum as we consolidate and simplify our customers' security architectures," said Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks.
The company expects Q1/23 EPS to be in the range of $2.03-$2.06, and revenue in the range of $1.535-1.555 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion.
For the full 2023-year, the company expects EPS to be in the range of $9.40-$9.50, and revenue in the range of $6.85-6.9 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion.
The company also announced that its board of directors has approved and declared a three-for-one stock split in the form of a stock dividend. After the close of business on September 13, each stockholder of record at the close of business on September 6 will receive two additional shares for every share held on the record date. Trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis on September 14.
Furthermore, the company’s board of directors authorized an additional $915 million share repurchase program.