Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) climbed on Wednesday after the cybersecurity company reported fiscal second-quarter results and guidance that investment firm Wedbush Securities called "Aaron Judge-like" in a nod to the feared New York Yankees slugger.
Analyst Dan Ives, who has an outperform rating on Palo Alto, noted the results were "solid" and should calm fears of worries about slowdowns in the cybersecurity sector.
Ives boosted his per-share price target on Palo Alto Networks to $210 from $200 following the results.
For the period ending January 31, Palo Alto Networks earned $1.05 per share on $1.7 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting the stock to earn 78 cents per share on $1.65B in revenue.
In addition, the company said billings rose 26% year-over-year to $2.03 billion during the period, while remaining performance obligations clocked in at $8.8 billion, topping estimates of $8.38 billion.
Looking ahead, Palo Alto said it expects third-quarter billings to be between $2.2 billion and $2.25 billion, topping estimates of $2.22 billion. 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 $1.7 billion to $1.73 billion.
For the full-year, Palo Alto expects to earn between $3.97 and $4.03 per share, excluding one-time items.
PANW shares began Wednesday ahead $20.20, or 12.1%, to $187.09.
