New York, May 30, 2026, 09:11 EDT
- Palo Alto Networks ended Friday at $281.69, rising 9.28% on the day. Shares climbed 8.1% for the holiday-shortened week.
- Nasdaq stayed closed Monday for Memorial Day and is also shut on the weekend. Standard hours for Nasdaq are Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern.
- Palo Alto Networks will release its fiscal Q3 earnings after the bell on Tuesday, June 2.
Palo Alto Networks shares jumped 9.28% to $281.69 on Friday, capping a choppy, shortened week. Investors bought in ahead of earnings and after the company wrapped up its acquisition of AI security startup Portkey. The stock hit an intraday high of $283.71, according to historical price data.
Palo Alto shares just got another test after a big run. U.S. markets were shut Monday for Memorial Day. Still, Palo Alto managed to log an 8.1% gain across the four trading days ending Friday. AI-linked stocks once again moved the market last week.
Stocks ended higher. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% to 7,580.06 on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% to 51,032.46. The Nasdaq was also up 0.2%, finishing at 26,972.62. It was the ninth week in a row of gains for the S&P 500, according to Associated Press market data.
Palo Alto said Friday it’s finished buying Portkey, which it describes as an AI Gateway provider. The AI Gateway sits between firms’ AI tools and third-party models, letting companies monitor and control AI traffic. Some investors are tracking demand for these tools as businesses shift from basic chatbots to agents that act on their own.
Palo Alto’s chief product and technology officer Lee Klarich said the company aims to keep its platform “on the cutting edge” with both in-house development and deals. Portkey co-founder and CEO Rohit Agarwal said the acquisition is intended to help companies “bridge the trust gap” as AI shifts into daily work. Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto will post fiscal third-quarter numbers after the U.S. close on Tuesday, June 2. The quarter covers the period ended April 30. A webcast is set for 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
Palo Alto’s latest quarter numbers landed strong. Fiscal second quarter revenue totaled $2.6 billion, a 15% gain from last year. Next-Generation Security annual recurring revenue hit $6.3 billion, up 33%. Annual recurring revenue is subscription revenue projected on a yearly basis. Remaining performance obligations—future revenue from signed contracts—came to $16.0 billion, up 23%.
Jefferies lifted its price target on Palo Alto to $300 from $265 on Friday, sticking with its Buy rating. Analysts there still think the company is on track for its fiscal third-quarter numbers on remaining performance obligations, annual recurring revenue and total revenue. The firm also pointed out product revenue could come in above consensus for 25% year-over-year growth, but said the stock’s rally had lifted the bar. Caveats aside, the general tilt from analysts remains bullish.
Palo Alto and CrowdStrike shares took a hit earlier in the week after Zscaler’s results put pressure on cybersecurity stocks, with Barron’s saying Palo Alto dropped 3.2% and CrowdStrike fell 3.9% on Wednesday. Wedbush’s Dan Ives called Zscaler’s stumble more specific to the company than the whole group, bumping his Palo Alto target to $300.
Palo Alto’s latest moves have focused on AI and identity security. The company introduced Idira on May 12, a new platform to secure human, machine and agentic identities. Will Townsend, chief analyst at LoneStar Advisory & Research, said privileged access management is now more than “a vault problem” as identities keep spreading across enterprises. Palo Alto Networks
Jefferies flagged valuation and execution risk. The firm said the stock could trade sideways unless organic net new annual recurring revenue beats forecasts and organic services revenue steadies or picks up. Investors are watching integration costs after the Portkey and CyberArk deals and want to see if the company can make those acquisitions stick as growth, but not at the cost of margins.
Palo Alto’s results on Tuesday will test if its AI-security push puts up the numbers to back a stock that’s run. The week sets up a straightforward call: did Friday’s pop set up for good news, or has the market jumped too soon?
