Should I Buy PANW? PANW 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Buy

Latest Price

174.900

1 Day change

-4.81%

52 Week Range

223.610

Analysis Updated At

2026/01/26

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is a good buy for a beginner investor with a long-term strategy and $50,000-$100,000 available for investment. The company's strong position in the growing cybersecurity market, recent acquisitions, positive congressional trading sentiment, and hedge fund buying activity make it a compelling investment. Despite short-term technical weakness, the long-term growth potential outweighs current negative trends.

Technical Analysis

The technical indicators are currently bearish. The MACD histogram is negative and expanding downward, RSI is neutral at 26.316, and moving averages are bearish (SMA_200 > SMA_20 > SMA_5). The stock is trading near its support level at 180.544, with resistance at 186.385. This suggests short-term weakness but potential for recovery.

Options Data

Neutral

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

Hedge funds are heavily buying, with a 185.66% increase in buying activity last quarter.
Congress members have made 4 purchase transactions in the past 90 days, indicating positive sentiment.
The cybersecurity market is projected to grow significantly, reaching $377 billion by
Palo Alto's acquisition of CyberArk strengthens its market leadership.
Analysts have raised price targets recently, with Piper Sandler increasing the target to $265 and Morgan Stanley to $245.

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Short-term technical indicators are bearish, with negative MACD and bearish moving averages.
Recent financial performance shows a decline in net income (-4.76% YoY) and EPS (-4.08% YoY), despite revenue growth.
HSBC downgraded the stock to Reduce, citing decelerating revenue growth and limited upward potential for fiscal 2026 and 2027.

Financial Performance

In Q1 FY2026, Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.67% YoY increase in revenue to $2.47 billion. However, net income dropped by 4.76% YoY to $334 million, and EPS declined by 4.08% YoY to $0.47. Gross margin improved slightly to 74.21%, up 0.16% YoY.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Analysts are cautiously optimistic about Palo Alto Networks. Piper Sandler raised the price target to $265, and Morgan Stanley increased it to $245, both maintaining Overweight ratings. Guggenheim upgraded the stock to Neutral, citing its position as a leader in the cybersecurity space. However, HSBC downgraded the stock to Reduce, citing decelerating revenue growth and limited upside potential.

34 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast PANW stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for PANW is 232.49 USD with a low forecast of 157 USD and a high forecast of 265 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

28 Buy

5 Hold

1 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 183.740

Low

157

Averages

232.49

High

265

Current: 183.740

Low

157

Averages

232.49

High

265

Guggenheim

John DiFucci

Sell -> Neutral

upgrade

AI Analysis

2026-01-05

Reason

Guggenheim

John DiFucci

Price Target

AI Analysis

2026-01-05

upgrade

Sell -> Neutral

Reason

Guggenheim analyst John DiFucci late Friday upgraded Palo Alto Networks to Neutral from Sell without a price target. The stock has significantly underperformed the major indices, making it more difficult to make money shorting Palo Alto at this time, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes Palo Alto Networks should continue to benefit from the narrative as the largest pure-play vendor in the security space. The sector is "somewhat insulated, if not boosted by the threat of AI," contends Guggenheim.

Piper Sandler

Overweight

maintain

$230 -> $265

2026-01-05

Reason

Piper Sandler

Price Target

$230 -> $265

2026-01-05

maintain

Overweight

Reason

Piper Sandler raised the firm's price target on Palo Alto Networks to $265 from $230 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm says 2025 proved to be a tough year for its Security & Infrastructure Software coverage, with the average name showing negative performance and only four names outperforming the NASDAQ. Piper is cautiously optimistic for a better year in 2026, with many names entering the year at interesting valuation levels setup well to be longer-term GenAI winners, despite monetization at the software layer not yet occurring at scale.

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PANW Should I Buy

PANW Should I Buy

Should You Buy Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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