Why did Palo Alto Networks stock jump up today? Strong billings, guidance
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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) soared more than 12% on Wednesday after the cybersecurity company reported strong fiscal second-quarter results and guidance, prompting praise from Wall Street.
Looking ahead, Palo Alto (PANW) said it expects third-quarter billings to be between $2.2B and $2.25B, topping estimates of $2.22B. It forecast earnings to be between 90 and 94 cents per share, excluding one-time items, while revenue is expected to be within a range of $1.7B to $1.73B.
Palo Alto (PANW) expects full-year earnings to be between $3.97 and $4.03 per share, excluding one-time items.
During its second-quarter, the Nikesh Arora-led company said it earned $1.05 per share on $1.7B in revenue. Analysts were expecting Palo Alto (PANW) to earn 78 cents per share on $1.65B in revenue.
In addition, Palo Alto (PANW) said billings rose 26% year-over-year to $2.03B during the period, while remaining performance obligations clocked in at $8.8B, topping estimates of $8.38B.
The strong results prompted praise from Wall Street analysts, including Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who raised his per-share price target to $210 after the results.
"Taking a step back, the cloud transformation at [Palo Alto] is well underway and the company is becoming the Aaron Judge of cyber security as larger more strategic deals are getting inked despite the 'best days are in the rear view mirror' Street naysayer crowd," Ives penned in a research note.

In late 2022, Morgan Stanley listed Palo Alto Networks (PANW) among its top software picks for 2023.