Stock Analyst Targets, Earnings, and New Partnerships of Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

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TLDR

  • On March 3, Arete upgraded PANW from a Sell rating to a Buy rating in a double – upgrade move, setting a price target of $185 and stating that fears of structural deceleration are overblown.
  • On March 2, Wells Fargo initiated coverage of PANW with an Overweight rating and a $200 price target, referring to the recent pullback as a “favorable entry point”.
  • PANW reported a Q2 EPS of $1.03, surpassing the estimated $0.94, and had revenue of $2.59 billion, which is a 14.9% increase year – over – year.
  • On March 5, Siemens announced a jointly verified cybersecurity solution with PANW for industrial private 5G networks.
  • At the Mobile World Congress 2026, PANW revealed four new collaborations, including deals with Nokia, U Mobile, Aeris, and Celerway.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has had a busy week with analyst upgrades, new partnerships, and fresh institutional interest. However, the stock is still trading well below its one – year high of $223.61.

PANW opened at $165.05 on Friday, compared to a 52 – week low of $139.57. The stock’s 200 – day moving average is $190.15, meaning the current price is significantly below that level.

PANW Stock Card

The most significant analyst action came from Arete on March 3. The firm upgraded PANW directly from a Sell to a Buy rating and raised its price target from $150 to $185. Arete claimed that the market was factoring in too much structural deceleration, arguing that agentic AI is actually expanding the attack surface instead of reducing cybersecurity budgets.

This is a notable change from a firm that was previously bearish on the stock.

On the same day, Wells Fargo also got involved, initiating coverage with an Overweight rating and a $200 price target. The bank said that the recent pullback presented a good entry point and highlighted PANW’s exposure to nearly every major trend in cybersecurity at present.

Analyst Targets Remain Above Current Price

The consensus among analysts is an average price target of $210.19, with 34 Buy ratings, 2 Strong Buys, and 9 Hold ratings. Earlier upgrades from (with a $223 target) and Goldman Sachs (with a $224 target) show a wide range of expectations, but most of them are well above the current trading price of the stock.

Evercore had the most bullish recent call, raising its target to $250 in November and rating the stock as Outperform. Citigroup and Guggenheim are more cautious, with Citi setting a target of $210 and Guggenheim holding a Neutral stance.

In terms of earnings, PANW reported a Q2 EPS of $1.03 compared to the analyst estimate of $0.94, beating the estimate by $0.09. Revenue was $2.59 billion, a 14.9% year – over – year increase and slightly ahead of the $2.58 billion consensus.

The company provided guidance for a full – year FY2026 EPS of $3.65–$3.70, and Q3 2026 EPS guidance of $0.78–$0.80.

New Industrial and 5G Security Deals

On the partnership front, March has been eventful. On March 5, Siemens announced a verified cybersecurity solution for industrial private 5G networks built with a next – generation firewall. The architecture was tested at Siemens’ Digital Connectivity Lab in Erlangen, Germany, and is certified against IEC 62443 industrial security standards.

The setup combines Siemens’ private 5G infrastructure with PANW’s Layer 7 firewall for deep packet inspection of OT protocols, while maintaining low latency for real – time industrial operations.

Earlier, on March 2 at the Mobile World Congress 2026, PANW announced four new collaborations: with Nokia, U Mobile, Aeris, and Celerway. These deals are focused on securing the autonomous edge and enabling sovereign AI deployments.

Rathbones Group PLC increased its PANW position by 1.1% in Q3, bringing its stake to 868,983 shares worth approximately $176.9 million. Institutional investors now hold around 79.82% of the company.

Insider selling has continued. EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares at $191.03 on January 8, reducing his position by 28.78%. The total insider selling over the past 90 days reached 139,068 shares valued at $26.6 million.