Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 26th, 2026

Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV – Get Free Report) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $382.6667.

FFIV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on F5 from $356.00 to $423.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $292.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Evercore upgraded shares of F5 from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on FFIV

Insider Buying and Selling at F5 In other F5 news, Director Elizabeth Buse sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $399.35, for a total transaction of $399,350.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,975,584.45. This represents a 16.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.39, for a total value of $1,276,346.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 146,989 shares in the company, valued at $49,592,618.71. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 22,579 shares of company stock valued at $7,836,860 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F5 A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FFIV. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in F5 by 166.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 62,906 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,750,000 after acquiring an additional 39,305 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in F5 by 1,281.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in F5 by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 298,297 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,428,000 after purchasing an additional 82,835 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in F5 during the 1st quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in F5 by 288.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.66% of the company’s stock.

F5 Price Performance NASDAQ FFIV opened at $392.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $400.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.44. F5 has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $435.00. The firm has a market cap of $22.13 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 1.03.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The network technology company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $811.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.82 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 21.96%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. F5 has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.910-4.030 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.250-16.550 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that F5 will post 12.78 earnings per share for the current year.

F5 Company Profile (Get Free Report)

F5 Inc (NASDAQ:FFIV) specializes in application services and delivery networking, helping organizations ensure the availability, performance and security of their applications. The company’s core offerings include advanced load balancing, traffic management and application security solutions designed to optimize user experiences and protect against threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and web application exploits.

At the heart of F5’s product portfolio is the BIG-IP platform, which provides a suite of software modules for local and global traffic management, secure web application firewalling and DNS service delivery.

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In its upcoming report, F5 Networks (FFIV - Free Report) is predicted by Wall Street analysts to post quarterly earnings of $3.98 per share, reflecting a decline of 4.3% compared to the same period last year. Revenues are forecasted to be $832.12 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 6.6%.

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This reflects how the analysts covering the stock have collectively reevaluated their initial estimates during this timeframe.

Before a company reveals its earnings, it is vital to take into account any changes in earnings projections. These revisions play a pivotal role in predicting the possible reactions of investors toward the stock. Multiple empirical studies have consistently shown a strong association between trends in earnings estimates and the short-term price movements of a stock.

While investors typically use consensus earnings and revenue estimates as a yardstick to evaluate the company's quarterly performance, scrutinizing analysts' projections for some of the company's key metrics can offer a more comprehensive perspective.

Given this perspective, it's time to examine the average forecasts of specific F5 metrics that are routinely monitored and predicted by Wall Street analysts.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Net revenues- Services' will likely reach $402.31 million. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +2.8%.

Analysts forecast 'Net revenues- Products' to reach $429.80 million. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +10.5%.

Analysts predict that the 'Net product revenues- Software' will reach $219.37 million. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +5.5%.

Analysts expect 'Net product revenues- Systems' to come in at $210.59 million. The estimate points to a change of +16.4% from the year-ago quarter.

View all Key Company Metrics for F5 here>>>

Shares of F5 have experienced a change of +4.9% in the past month compared to the +0.3% move of the Zacks S&P 500 composite. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), FFIV is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Wall Street expects a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when F5 Networks (FFIV - Free Report) reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.

The earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 27, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus EstimateThis computer networking company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $3.98 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -4.3%.

Revenues are expected to be $832.12 million, up 6.6% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for F5?For F5, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -0.83%.

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.

So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that F5 will beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that F5 would post earnings of $3.47 per share when it actually produced earnings of $3.90, delivering a surprise of +12.39%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.

Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

F5 doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, today announced the appointment of Cathy Peterman as Executive Vice President

Investors with an interest in Internet - Software stocks have likely encountered both PagerDuty (PD) and F5 Networks (FFIV). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now?

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--F5, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, announced it will report its third quarter fiscal year 2026 financial results on Monday, July 27, 2026, following the market close. F5 will host a live webcast to discuss its results with investors and analysts beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET on July 27, 2026. The live webcast link can be accessed from the events & presentations page of the investor relations portion of f5.com. Inter.

Investors interested in stocks from the Internet - Software sector have probably already heard of PagerDuty (PD - Free Report) and F5 Networks (FFIV - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, both PagerDuty and F5 Networks are holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

PD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.58, while FFIV has a forward P/E of 23.47. We also note that PD has a PEG ratio of 0.98. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. FFIV currently has a PEG ratio of 3.52.

Another notable valuation metric for PD is its P/B ratio of 3.05. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, FFIV has a P/B of 5.98.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to PD's Value grade of A and FFIV's Value grade of D.

Both PD and FFIV are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that PD is the superior value option right now.

F5 Launches AI Security Platform to Put Security Leaders in Control of Enterprise AI Risk F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, today introduced the F5 AI Security Platform to give CISOs continuous visibility, governance, and protection across enterprise AI applications, models, agents, and the APIs connecting them. F5 also announced the acquisition of SurePath AI, a pioneer in network-based AI discovery, intent classification, and shadow AI detection, as a key component in the launch of the new F5 AI Security Platform to safeguard enterprise AI deployments.

Through a continuous, adaptive loop approach to governing, discovering, testing, and protecting enterprise AI workloads, the new platform is designed to extend F5’s Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) strategy to enterprise AI. As a global cybersecurity leader, F5 recognized the AI deployment realities of large enterprises, building the F5 AI Security Platform to support on-premises, air-gapped, private cloud, hybrid, and public cloud environments. This is intended to give organizations greater control over AI security where data residency, sovereignty, and operational requirements are non-negotiable.

AI systems now operate with more access, autonomy, and speed than even the most over-privileged human users, creating new risks for security teams and business leaders. A prompt injection, data leak, or agent acting beyond its authorized scope can expose sensitive information, disrupt operations, and erode customer trust.

At the same time, employees are adopting unauthorized tools and unsanctioned integrations, creating shadow AI footprints that most security teams cannot see, let alone govern. According to F5’s 2026 State of Application Strategy (SOAS) Report, 88% of organizations report at least one AI-related operational or security challenge.

“Most AI security today is a wrapper around a chatbot. That is not security,” said Kunal Anand, Chief Product Officer, F5. “Enterprises run AI inside regulated networks, behind APIs, and across agents that authenticate and act on their own. The F5 AI Security Platform gives CISOs and security leaders what they have been missing: continuous control over every model, agent, and API, wherever the AI runs, delivered on the same F5 platform that has secured and delivered enterprise applications for three decades.”

SurePath AI: Closing the AI visibility gap

The addition of SurePath AI powers the F5 AI Security Platform’s approach to network-based AI discovery, identifying AI usage across the enterprise, including shadow AI, without requiring direct application integrations. With frictionless deployment through network redirects and out-of-band analysis, SurePath AI gives security teams a unified visibility layer that detects unauthorized AI activity, classifies the intent behind each workflow, and continuously traces agent tool calls and MCP server connections. This visibility feeds directly into the F5 AI Security Platform, informing the risks to be tested by F5 AI Red Team and mitigated by F5 AI Guardrails.

Delivering a continuous cycle of protection

The F5 AI Security Platform addresses AI risk through four integrated pillars and an overarching observability layer that creates a persistent security lifecycle rather than a one-time compliance exercise. Features include:

AI governance: Translate specific risk tolerances, privacy requirements, and regulatory obligations into enforceable boundaries for AI prompts, outputs, tool use, and data access.

AI discovery: Gain continuous visibility into every AI application, agent, and MCP tool call running across the enterprise, whether sanctioned or not. The platform classifies activity by use case and intent, so teams know not just what is running but why. SurePath AI’s network-based discovery does this passively, with no application-level integration required.

AI security testing: Stress-test AI systems against more than 140,000 attack patterns from the deepest AI threat database in the industry before those systems reach production, converting findings directly into enforceable defenses.

AI runtime protection: Define guardrails in plain language and deploy them at the point of interaction, where the platform has demonstrated up to 98.2% security efficacy in independent testing, blocking prompt injection, excessive agent autonomy, and data leakage.

AI observability: Provide a complete audit trail across every AI interaction on the platform, maintaining the accountability and traceability that regulated industries require.

The flexibility to deploy anywhere without compromise

With this new solution, F5 uniquely combines AI security capabilities with flexible deployment options, enabling enterprises to operate across on-premises, air-gapped, private cloud, hybrid, and public cloud deployments. This is especially valuable to CISOs in highly regulated industries with exacting data residency and sovereignty requirements. SurePath AI’s lightweight network-based deployment model reinforces this flexibility, requiring no changes to existing application architectures.

Heightened visibility is increasingly critical as AI agents proliferate. F5’s 2026 SOAS Report states 98% of organizations are preparing for agentic AI, but the speed of agent adoption is outpacing the controls designed to manage it. When agents can authenticate, call tools, access data, and take actions autonomously, the blast radius of a single misconfiguration or exploit grows exponentially.

Supporting resources

F5 AI Security Platform – Details

The F5 AI Security Platform: Eliminating the guesswork from AI security – F5 blog

AI Summit: Accelerate AI adoption – F5 virtual event

About F5

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is the global leader that delivers and secures every app. Backed by three decades of expertise, F5 has built the industry’s premier platform—F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP)—to deliver and secure every app, every API, anywhere: on-premises, in the cloud, at the edge, and across hybrid, multicloud environments. F5 is committed to innovating and partnering with the world’s largest and most advanced organizations to deliver fast, available, and secure digital experiences. Together, we help each other thrive and bring a better digital world to life.

For more information visit [url="]f5.com [/url]
Explore F5 Labs threat research at [url="]f5.com/labs [/url]
Follow to learn more about F5, our partners, and technologies:

Blog | LinkedIn | X | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

F5 and SurePath AI are trademarks, service marks, or tradenames of F5, Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260622960969/en/

Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.

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FFIV tops Q2 estimates as Systems demand lifts revenues by 11% and free cash flow hits a record, while management boosts the FY26 outlook.

F5, Inc. delivered a strong Q2'26, with 11% revenue growth and robust product momentum, but I rate the stock a 'hold.' EMEA regulatory tailwinds, especially NIS2 and DORA, are fueling multi-year demand for FFIV's hybrid multi-cloud security solutions. Recurring revenue now comprises 70% of total, with software subscriptions driving margin expansion and operating leverage.

Have you assessed how the international operations of F5 Networks (FFIV - Free Report) performed in the quarter ended March 2026? For this computer networking company, possessing an expansive global footprint, parsing the trends of international revenues could be critical to gauge its financial resilience and growth prospects.

In the current global economy, which is more interconnected than ever, a company's success in penetrating international markets is crucial for its financial health and growth journey. Investors must understand a company's dependence on overseas markets, as this offers a window into the company's earnings stability, its ability to benefit from varied economic cycles and its potential for long-term growth.

Being present in international markets serves as a counterbalance to domestic economic challenges while offering chances to engage with more rapidly evolving economies. However, this kind of diversification introduces challenges like currency fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainties and varying market trends.

In our recent assessment of FFIV's quarterly performance, we discovered notable trends in its overseas revenue sections, which are typically modeled and scrutinized by Wall Street analysts.

The company's total revenue for the quarter amounted to $811.7 million, showing rise of 11%. We will now explore the breakdown of FFIV's overseas revenue to assess the impact of its international operations.

Decoding FFIV's International Revenue TrendsDuring the quarter, Asia Pacific contributed $143.97 million in revenue, making up 17.7% of the total revenue. When compared to the consensus estimate of $133.14 million, this meant a surprise of +8.13%. Looking back, Asia Pacific contributed $128.97 million, or 15.7%, in the previous quarter, and $121.03 million, or 16.6%, in the same quarter of the previous year.

Other generated $22.55 million in revenues for the company in the last quarter, constituting 2.8% of the total. This represented a surprise of -4.28% compared to the $23.56 million projected by Wall Street analysts. Comparatively, in the previous quarter, Other accounted for $26.59 million (3.2%), and in the year-ago quarter, it contributed $22.34 million (3.1%) to the total revenue.

Europe, Middle East and Africa accounted for 32.1% of the company's total revenue during the quarter, translating to $260.86 million. Revenues from this region represented a surprise of +19.8%, with Wall Street analysts collectively expecting $217.75 million. When compared to the preceding quarter and the same quarter in the previous year, Europe, Middle East and Africa contributed $253.71 million (30.9%) and $213.97 million (29.3%) to the total revenue, respectively.

Revenue Forecasts for the International MarketsIt is projected by analysts on Wall Street that F5 will post revenues of $832.6 million for the ongoing fiscal quarter, an increase of 6.7% from the year-ago quarter. The expected contributions from Asia Pacific, Other and Europe, Middle East and Africa to this revenue are 16.8%, 3.1%, and 28.1%, translating into $140.05 million, $26.1 million, and $233.75 million, respectively.

For the full year, the company is expected to generate $3.32 billion in total revenue, up 7.4% from the previous year. Revenues from Asia Pacific, Other and Europe, Middle East and Africa are expected to constitute 16.3% ($539.82 million), 3% ($100.35 million) and 27.9% ($925.95 million) of the total, respectively.

Closing RemarksF5's leaning on foreign markets for its revenue stream presents a mix of chances and challenges. Therefore, a vigilant watch on its international revenue movements can greatly aid in projecting the company's future direction.

In an era of growing international ties and escalating geopolitical disputes, financial analysts on Wall Street pay keen attention to these developments to fine-tune their earnings estimations for businesses operating across borders. It's important to note, however, that a range of additional variables, like a company's local market status, also play a crucial role in shaping these forecasts.

We at Zacks strongly focus on the dynamic earnings forecast of companies, given that empirical studies have demonstrated its potent impact on the immediate price movement of stocks. Invariably, there's a positive relationship -- upward earnings predictions often result in an increase in stock prices.

Our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, with its externally validated exceptional track record, harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions to serve as a dependable measure for anticipating the short-term price trends of stocks.

At present, F5 holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). This ranking implies that its near-term performance might beat the overall market movement. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Examining the Latest Trends in F5 Networks' Stock ValueOver the past month, the stock has seen an increase of 10% in its value, whereas the Zacks S&P 500 composite has posted an increase of 9.5%. The Zacks Computer and Technology sector, F5's industry group, remained unchanged over the identical span. In the past three months, there's been an increase of 20.4% in the company's stock price, against a rise of 4.9% in the S&P 500 index. The broader sector has remained unchanged during this interval.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, announced significant milestones in its ongoing collaboration with Red Hat, unveiling a suite of innovative solutions designed to address the critical needs of Kubernetes-native application protection, AI-powered application security, and IT modernization. United by a shared commitment to open standards, enterprise security, and scalable architectures, F5's new offerings deliver robust a.

F5 (FFIV +1.17%) stock was a nearly 5% gainer on the first trading day of the week. The application delivery and security specialist's equity rose after an analyst upgraded his recommendation on the company.

Nothing artificial about this success Well before market open, Evercore ISI's Amit Daryanani changed his F5 recommendation for the better, lifting it one peg to outperform (read: buy) from his previous in line (hold). He also raised his price target substantially, to $475 per share from $320.

Image source: Getty Images.

According to reports, Daryanani's modifications are due in no small part to the steep rise of artificial intelligence (AI) adaptation. The analyst wrote that the company's exposure to AI inference traffic is rapidly putting coins in its pocket, as it earned $50 million in AI bookings alone in the first half of its fiscal 2026.

Daryanani also noted that F5's valuations are low compared to those of its peers. The company currently trades at around 20.5 times estimated fiscal 2027 earnings, while other networking and cybersecurity titles hover at a far higher level (roughly 33).

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A peak buy The analyst also noted that F5 stock has lately been notching new all-time highs, a situation that always makes me wary of buying a stock. However, in this case, I think there's plenty of justification for investing in F5, since the analyst's take on how AI is igniting the company's financials is accurate. I believe this is one of those instances where it can be beneficial to buy at (or near) a stock's high.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Investors interested in Internet - Software stocks are likely familiar with DocuSign (DOCU) and F5 Networks (FFIV). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks?

FFIV delivers cloud computing solutions, including automation, security, networking, and management services, for businesses, service providers, and governments. In its second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings report, F5 showed $812 million in revenue (an 11% year-over-year gain), non-GAAP per-share earnings of $3.90 (a 14% gain from the prior year), and offered growth and EPS guidance of up to 8% and $16.55, respectively.

It’s no wonder FFIV shares are up 56% so far this year – and they could rise more. MoneyFlows data shows how Big Money investors are again betting heavily on the stock.

Institutions Buying F5 Institutional volumes reveal plenty. In the last year, FFIV has enjoyed strong investor demand, which we believe to be institutional support.

Each green bar signals unusually large volumes in FFIV shares. They reflect our proprietary inflow signal, pushing the stock higher:

Source: www.moneyflows.com Plenty of technology names are under accumulation right now. But there’s a powerful fundamental story happening with F5.

F5 Fundamental Analysis Institutional support and a healthy fundamental backdrop make this company worth investigating. As you can see, FFIV has had strong sales and earnings growth:

1-year sales growth rate (+9.7%) 3-year EPS growth rate (+31.2%) Source: FactSet

Also, EPS is estimated to ramp higher this year by +5.7%.

Now it makes sense why the stock has been generating Big Money interest. FFIV has a track record of strong financial performance.

Marrying great fundamentals with MoneyFlows software has found some big winning stocks over the long term.

F5 has been a top-rated stock at MoneyFlows for years. That means the stock has unusual buy pressure and growing fundamentals. We have a ranking process that showcases stocks like this on a weekly basis.

It’s garnered 87 outlier inflow signals since January 2005 and is up 1,567% in that time. The blue bars below show when FFIV was a top pick on the Outlier 20 report in the last decade… Big Money remains a buyer:

Source: www.moneyflows.com Tracking unusual volumes reveals the power of money flows.

This is a trait that most outlier stocks exhibit…the best of the best. Big Money demand drives stocks upward.

F5 Price Prediction The FFIV action isn’t new at all. Big Money buying in the shares is signaling to take notice. Given the historical gains in share price and strong fundamentals, this stock could be worth a spot in a diversified portfolio.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in FFIV at the time of publication.

If you are a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) or are a serious investor, take your investing to the next level and follow our free weekly MoneyFlows insights.

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for F5 Networks (FFIV - Free Report) . Shares have added about 18.3% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is F5 due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent drivers for F5, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.

F5 Q2 Earnings and Revenues Beat EstimatesF5 delivered better-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2026 results. FFIV reported second-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $3.90, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12.44%. The bottom line increased 14% year over year.

F5’s revenues of $812 million for the second quarter beat the consensus mark by 3.49%. The top line rose 11% on a year-over-year basis.

FFIV’s Q2 DetailsProduct revenues (50.6% of total revenue) climbed 22% year over year to $411 million, supported by continued strength in Systems. Systems revenues increased 26% to $226 million, reflecting customers upgrading to higher-performance and higher-capacity platforms as they modernize data centers for resiliency, sovereignty requirements and AI readiness. Our model estimates for the Product segment and Systems sub-segment revenues were pegged at $381.1 million and $199.6 million, respectively.

Management characterized the cycle as “refresh plus,” where refresh activity also becomes a moment to attach new use cases and expand wallet share. On the earnings call, the company cited instances where customers broadened projects beyond replacements into AI-related deployments and pointed to increased competitive displacement as enterprises consolidate around fewer, more capable platforms.

Software revenues grew 17% to $184 million, with subscriptions remaining the dominant contributor. Subscription-based software revenues totaled $165 million, representing 90% of software revenues, while perpetual license software was $19 million. Our model estimates for Software revenues were pegged at $181.5 million.

While Systems has been the faster-growing piece recently, the company emphasized that software performance is largely shaped by subscription renewals and expansion within the installed base. On the call, management reiterated that software growth can look uneven quarter to quarter due to the renewal cycle, even as attach and consumption trends remain constructive.

Global Services revenues (49.4% of total revenues) grew 2% year over year to $401 million. Our model estimates for the Global Services segment revenues were pegged at $399.9 million.

FFIV’s Solid Profitability & Operating DisciplineF5’s profitability profile remained solid despite ongoing hardware-related input volatility. GAAP gross margin expanded 70 basis points to 81.4%, and non-GAAP gross margin increased by 60 basis points to 83.7%. GAAP operating margin improved by 40 basis points to 22.1%, while non-GAAP operating margin increased by 190 basis points to 33.8%.

The company also highlighted disciplined spending. Management flagged higher component costs, particularly memory, as a modeling factor that could pressure gross margin sequentially later in the year, but indicated it continues to balance pricing actions and discount discipline to help offset cost inflation.

F5’s Balance Sheet & Cash FlowF5 ended the March 2026 quarter with cash and short-term investments of $1.44 billion, up from $1.22 billion in the previous quarter.

Cash generation was a clear highlight in the second quarter. FFIV produced $366 million in cash flow from operations and reported free cash flow of $348 million, supported by strong collections and profitability. In the first half of fiscal 2026, the company generated operating and free cash flows of $525 million and $497 million, respectively.

F5 repurchased $100 million of stock during the quarter and $401 million in the first half of fiscal 2026. At the end of the second quarter, the company had $522 million remaining under its authorization.

F5 Initiates Q3 Guidance & Updates FY26 ViewManagement raised its full-year fiscal 2026 outlook following strong execution and improved visibility. FFIV now expects revenue growth of 7% to 8%, up from the prior 5%-6% range, and increased its non-GAAP earnings outlook to the $16.25-$16.55 per share band from the $15.65-$16.05 range.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, F5 guided revenues in the range of $820-$840 million and non-GAAP earnings in the band of $3.91-$4.03 per share. Executives tied the outlook to three demand drivers: accelerating hybrid multi-cloud adoption, an expanding threat landscape and an inflection in AI inference.

During the call, management added that AI-related use cases generated about $50 million in sales in the first half of the fiscal year and that the company is approaching 100 customers using F5 in those AI deployments.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?It turns out, estimates review have trended upward during the past month.

VGM ScoresAt this time, F5 has a average Growth Score of C, though it is lagging a bit on the Momentum Score front with a D. Following the exact same course, the stock was allocated a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

OutlookEstimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. It comes with little surprise F5 has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months.

F5, Inc. (FFIV) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, today announced new web application and API protection (WAAP) capabilities for its Application Delivery and Security Platform designed to keep enterprises ahead of a rapidly shifting threat landscape. Frontier AI models have collapsed the window between vulnerability discovery and active exploitation, giving threat actors faster, cheaper, and more available means of attack. F5 has expand.