Palo Alto Networks surges on Q3 beat, strong guidance, sending cyber security stocks higher
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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) shares surged more than 10% in after-hours trading on Thursday following the cyber security company's strong third-quarter results and guidance.
For the period ending April 30, Palo Alto (PANW) said it earned $1.79 a share, excluding one-time items, on $1.39 billion in revenue, up almost 30% on a year-over-year basis. The company also said that billings, a key metric watched by investors, rose 40% from a year ago, to $1.8 billion.
The news sent other cyber security stocks higher, including CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS), both of which gained approximately 1%.
In addition, Palo Alto (PANW) said it expects billings for the fourth-quarter to be between $2.32 billion and $2.35 billion, with revenue in a range of $1.53 billion to $1.55 billion.
The company also estimates that fourth-quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, will be between $2.26 and $2.29 a share, compared to estimates of $2.22 a share. 
For the full-year Palo Alto (PANW) said it expects revenue to be between $5.48 billion and $5.5 billion, which would be year-over-year growth of around 29%, with billings expected to be between $7.106 billion and $7.136 billion. 
Earlier this week, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) expanded its existing strategic alliance with Deloitte to offer managed security services to their shared U.S. customers.