Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) plunged more than 20% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cybersecurity company slashed its revenue forecasts, noting that customers are trimming their IT security spend and becoming more demanding as the company shifts strategy.

The maker of enterprise cybersecurity solutions lowered its full-year 2024 revenue guidance to between $7.95 billion and $8 billion, down from its earlier forecast of $8.15 billion to $8.2 billion. The company also downwardly revised its annual total billings guidance, now seeing that closely-watched metric, which includes 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:deferred revenue, coming in between $10.1 billion and $10.2 billion, below its prior projection of $10.7 billion to $10.8 billion.

Looking at the current quarter, the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity giant now expects to generate revenue of $1.95 billion to $1.98 billion, with the higher end of that guidance falling short of the $2.04 billion expected by analysts. The company’s 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bottom-line forecast of $1.24 to $1.26 per share also fell short of the consensus, which Wall Street had pegged at $1.29.

Despite an i🙈ncrease in online security breaches, the company cautioned that customers were demonstrating “spending fatigue” in cybersecurity and becoming more demanding as the company shifted strategy to accelerat🌸e growth.

“This is new,” Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora said on the company’s 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings call. “Customers are finding that adding incremental products is not necessarily driving a better security outcome for them,” he added. Arora said he sees future growth opportunities from 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:artificial intelligence (AI) as customers seek responsible integration of the technology into their IT infrastructure.

PANW shares trended consistently higher throughout 2023, with gains accelerating in the first six weeks of this year in the lead up to the company’s quarterly financial results. Amid an earnings-driven sell-off, investors should keep a close eye on the $285 level—an area on the chart that is likely to find support from a multi-month uptrend line stretching back to January 2023. This region also sits roughly midway between the rising 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:200-day and 50-day moving averages, which may also provide a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:confluence of support.

Palo Alto shares f༺ell 21.1% to $288.95 in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Correction: This ꦉarticle was updated to correct the spelling of Palo Al🎀to Networks in the headline.

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