Palo Alto Networks (Banu) posted quarterly profits that beat expectations, the cybersecurity firm said in a press release issued late Friday, raising eyebrows about its timing. Palo Alto stock popped up in after-hours trading.

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The unusual decision to release fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the market closed on the last trading day of the week sparked concern on Wall Street leading up to the release. A potential offset to those concerns: Palo Alto reported earnings of $1.44 per share on revenue of $1.95 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter ended July 31st.

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.29 per share on revenue of $1.96 billion, according to a survey by FactSet.

PANW stock jumped nearly 9% in after-market trading on Friday.

The company also released its outlook for fiscal 2024, projecting sales of $8.15 billion to $8.2 billion for the 12 months ending in July. Analysts called for revenue of $8.4 billion.

Palo Alto Stock: This month’s drop

Prior to its earnings release, PANW stock closed up about 1% in the stock market today but is down about 16% since the company reported its August 2 earnings date. beginning of the month.

This is the first time the S&P 500 has released after-market earnings on a Friday in nearly three years, according to market surveillance.

Palo Alto stock has come under more competitor pressure fortinet (FTNTannounced that quarterly earnings had just missed the mark on Aug. 3.

The unusual earnings timing — paired with Palo Alto telling analysts to expect a two-hour earnings call — has fueled quite a bit of speculation about what the company will say.

“The sky’s the limit” on the results

“The sky’s the limit as to potential outcomes,” Stifel analyst Adam Burg wrote in a note to clients Monday.

Because of this, analysts will listen closely to what the company has to say during the earnings call.

Palo Alto stock ranks among the top 35 companies in the computer software security group, according to IBD stock check. Stock is strong IBD composite classification of 98, and a relative strength rating of 90.

More is coming.

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