F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Updates Q4 2026 Earnings Guidance

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 4.140-4.260 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 3.950. The company issued revenue guidance of $870.0 million-$890.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $858.0 million. F5 also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 17.210-17.330 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FFIV. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of F5 in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on F5 from $292.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised F5 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, F5 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.67.

F5 Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFIV traded up $15.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $407.96. 1,611,982 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 768,532. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 1.03. F5 has a 1-year low of $223.76 and a 1-year high of $435.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $400.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.84.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The network technology company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.73. F5 had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 21.96%.The company had revenue of $865.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.60 million. F5 has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.260 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.210-17.330 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that F5 will post 12.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at F5

In related news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 1,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.58, for a total value of $439,010.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,474.80. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Edward Cooper Werner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,400. The trade was a 86.03% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,579 shares of company stock valued at $7,836,860. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

F5 News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly results beat estimates: F5 reported adjusted EPS of $4.73, well above the $4.00 consensus, while revenue reached $865.08 million versus expectations of $834.60 million. The company posted a 21.96% net margin and 21.50% return on equity. F5 Quarterly Results Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Product growth remained robust: Fiscal third-quarter product revenue increased 19% year over year, helping drive 11% total revenue growth. Management said the company has delivered eight consecutive quarters of double-digit product growth, signaling continued demand for its application and API security offerings. F5 Reports Third Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year guidance was raised above consensus: F5 forecast fiscal 2026 EPS of $17.210 to $17.330, compared with the $15.750 analyst estimate, and revenue of approximately $3.4 billion versus the $3.3 billion consensus.
• Positive Sentiment: Fourth-quarter outlook also topped expectations: Management projected EPS of $4.140 to $4.260 and revenue of $870 million to $890 million, exceeding consensus estimates of $3.950 EPS and $858 million revenue.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and momentum warrant monitoring: FFIV is trading near its 52-week high, with a price-to-earnings ratio of about 33 and a PEG ratio of 4.60. The strong results support the rally, but the elevated valuation increases sensitivity to any slowdown in growth or weaker future guidance.

Institutional Trading of F5

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

About F5

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.