New York, Feb 10, 2026, 16:49 EST — Trading after the bell.
- Palo Alto Networks slipped 0.3% in after-hours, landing at $165.51.
- Nasdaq plans to halt CyberArk trading at about 7:50 p.m. ET. The merger is expected to wrap up ahead of the open on Feb. 11.
- Stifel dropped its price target to $200, pointing to mixed channel checks before Palo Alto’s Feb. 17 results.
Palo Alto Networks shares slipped in late trading Tuesday following a Nasdaq announcement detailing the timeline for halting and suspending CyberArk, which Palo Alto is set to acquire. According to Nasdaq, CyberArk will see its shares halted after the after-hours session wraps up, around 7:50 p.m. ET. The merger itself is “tentatively scheduled” to wrap up before the opening bell on Feb. 11. If that deal closes as planned, trading in CyberArk would be suspended on Feb. 12. 1
Palo Alto’s timing is key here, with a close right at the bell likely to trigger brisk hedging and shift positions in the stock. This comes as investors brace for earnings and guidance updates next week.
Merger arb strategies, designed to pocket the gap between a deal’s terms and where the target trades, typically hedge with the acquirer’s stock. That setup can push Palo Alto’s shares around as the deal nears completion—volatility that may quickly reverse when the target stock gets suspended and those hedges unwind.
Palo Alto Networks shares slipped 0.3% to $165.51 after hours. Trading volume landed around 29.9 million on Tuesday, with the stock moving between $164.77 and $169.50.
The stock popped 4.2% Monday, outpacing most as cybersecurity names surged with the broader market. CrowdStrike tacked on 3.2%, Cisco added 2.3% for the day, according to MarketWatch data. 2
Stifel trimmed its price target on Palo Alto to $200 from $225 but stuck with a Buy rating, citing mostly upbeat—if somewhat mixed—demand chatter from its latest channel checks with cybersecurity resellers and integrators. Analysts warned that recent deals might add some “noise” to upcoming results. Stifel also pointed to the CyberArk transaction, which could wrap up as soon as this week. 3
Software names have been on a jittery ride lately. JPMorgan’s Dubravko Lakos-Bujas and his team noted Tuesday that current pricing reflects “worst-case AI disruption scenarios”—something they don’t expect to materialize in the next three to six months. Out of the pack, they singled out Palo Alto as one of the “AI-resilient” software picks likely to bounce back. 4
Palo Alto plans to release its fiscal second-quarter numbers once U.S. markets shut on Feb. 17, with a webcast scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Subscription growth remains the spotlight for investors hunting for demand clues, while management’s comments on deal costs and timing will also get close attention. 5
But that setup isn’t one-way traffic. Should the CyberArk deal falter at the close, or if investors suddenly get rattled by talk of messy integration or heavy cash burn, those hedge trades pressing the stock could unravel quickly. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike and Fortinet keep touting their own platform stories as the security sector stays packed with competitors.
Now attention shifts to CyberArk’s trading pause late Tuesday, and if the merger actually wraps ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell, according to Nasdaq’s guidance. After that, Palo Alto’s Feb. 17 earnings and forecast are in focus—the next solid gauge of demand and a test of how fast it can integrate a major identity-security acquisition.
