New York, Jan 20, 2026, 3:50 PM EST — Regular session
- Palo Alto Networks shares dip amid a widespread risk-off selloff in U.S. stocks
- Options trading is concentrated in near-term $200 strike calls
- A broker’s restatement shifts attention to the upcoming earnings report
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) slid 1.7% to $184.41 by 3:50 p.m. EST Tuesday, dropping $3.25 from yesterday’s close. Shares fluctuated between $182.39 and $188.50, with roughly 4.5 million changing hands.
The decline followed President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on several European nations starting Feb. 1, sparking another wave of risk aversion. Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management, described it as “a contained version of what we saw around Liberation Day.” 1
Other cybersecurity stocks followed the broader market’s pullback. CrowdStrike dropped 2.6%, Check Point slid 3.4%, and Fortinet barely budged.
Options trading in PANW grabbed attention, with roughly 52,474 contracts changing hands by early afternoon. The most active was the $200 strike call expiring on Jan. 30, where over 30,000 contracts traded, according to Nasdaq data. Call options grant buyers the right to purchase shares at a fixed price before expiration, commonly used for short-term bullish bets or hedging strategies. 2
Citizens analyst Trevor Walsh has once again rated Palo Alto Networks a Market Outperform, maintaining his $250 price target, according to StreetInsider. 3
Palo Alto Networks offers cybersecurity software focused on network and cloud security, and operates an incident-response and consulting division known as Unit 42, according to its Reuters company profile. 4
Without any new updates from the company, the stock still behaves like a high-multiple software play whenever volatility spikes. On days like this, capital often exits everything tagged as “risk-on,” then sifts through the fallout afterward.
The downside risk is straightforward. Should tariff threats turn into actual policy, risk assets could remain under strain, triggering sharp de-rating in pricey software stocks. Moves can intensify as options positioning shifts, with hedges rolling and leveraged bets unraveling.
The upcoming trigger for the stock is the company’s next quarterly earnings, expected on Feb. 12, per MarketBeat’s earnings calendar. 5
