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Founded in 2005, Santa Clara, California-based Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) offers network security solutions to enterprises, service providers and government entities worldwide. The company has a market capitalization of $111 billion and offers solutions like Prisma Access, Strata Cloud Manager, and Prisma AIRS to protect customers' entire AI ecosystem.
Shares of the tech giant have underperformed the broader market over the past year. PANW stock has declined 15% over the past 52 weeks and 13.5% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has returned 14% over the past year and 1.3% in 2026.
Narrowing the focus, PANW has also underperformed the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which rose 20.2% over the past 52 weeks and declined 2% this year.
On Nov. 21, PANW shares tumbled more than 7% despite the company’s better-than-expected Q1 2026 earnings release. The company surpassed Wall Street’s estimates on both its revenue and EPS fronts. However, its plans to acquire Chronosphere did not sit well with investors as it signalled a risky and quite expensive move.
More recently, the stock also fell more than 7% on Feb. 5 following a 12% plunge in Bitcoin’s price, marking a 1.25-year low.
For the fiscal year ending in June, analysts expect PANW to report a 26.8% YoY growth in adjusted EPS to $2.08. The company has a mixed earnings surprise history. It has surpassed and met the Street’s bottom-line estimates in three of the past four quarters, while missing on one occasion.
PANW has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating overall. Of the 50 analysts covering the stock, opinions include 35 “Strong Buys,” three “Moderate Buys,” and 12 “Holds.”
The configuration has remained unchanged in recent months.
On Jan. 28, Needham analyst Mike Cikos maintained a “Buy” rating for Palo Alto Networks stock and set a price target of $230.
PANW’s mean price target of $227.66 indicates upside potential of 42.9% from the current market prices. The Street-high target of $265 suggests the stock could rise as much as 66.3%.
On the date of publication, Sristi Jayaswal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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