Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) profit for the third quarter of 2022

Shares of Palo Alto Networks rose 12% in long-term trading on Thursday after network security maker announced third-quarter fiscal results stronger than analysts had expected.

Here’s how the company did:

• Profits: $ 1.79 per share adjusted, against $ 1.68 per share, as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• income: $ 1.39 billion versus $ 1.36 billion, analysts expect, according to Refinitiv.

Palo Alto Networks said revenue grew 29% year-over-year in the quarter ended April 30, according to statement. Revenues jumped 30%. the previous quarter.

“We saw strong growth at the top line in the third quarter, which is proof of the consistent performance of our teams, taking advantage of strong trends in the search for cybersecurity,” said Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, quoted in the statement.

Palo Alto Networks has been monitoring Russian cyber attacks since the outbreak of the war in the quarter and is seeing greater interest in protection from corporations and government agencies across Europe, Arora told analysts during a conference call.

Lack of supplies poses challenges, Arora said. Higher component and delivery costs narrowed the company’s adjusted gross margin for the quarter, said Deepak Golecha, its chief financial officer. The restrictions are likely to continue for another year, Arora said.

Both in the United States and abroad, commodity prices are rising. But so far, this is not a big challenge for Palo Alto Networks.

“We do not see the pressure from inflation or from the point of view of reduced economic activity,” Arora said.

In the Palo Alto Networks district announcements next-generation firewall tool, available exclusively through Amazon’s public cloud. The company too announcements a tool that helps companies detect vulnerabilities in software supply chains after problems caused by malicious updates to SolarWinds’ Orion software.

Leaders raised their guidelines for the entire fiscal year. They now expect adjusted earnings from $ 7.43 to $ 7.46 per share at $ 5.481 billion to $ 5.501 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were looking for $ 7.29 adjusted earnings per share with $ 5.46 billion in revenue.

The guidelines take into account wage inflation, Arora said, in part because of the proximity of the Santa Clara, California-based Palo Alto Networks to major Silicon Valley technology companies.

“We have not hired as many people as we expected during this market,” he said. “As you can see, this is a very tight labor market at the moment. Now that I’ve said that, my personal opinion is that labor markets will get easier in the next six to 12 months.”

He said company employees left to join startups six months ago. Now that has changed.

“Market rationalization makes people take stock and say, ‘Wait, do I really want to make this move?'” Arora said.

Before the close of trading, shares fell by almost 21% since the beginning of 2022, while the S&P 500 index fell by about 18% over the same period.