What happened
Shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW 3.61%), the firewall software company, popped 14.1% in January, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after three analysts upgraded the company's stock during the month.
So what
Palo Alto's stock received two upgrades in one day, the first coming from BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman. Bachman upgraded the stock to Outperform and raised his price target to $240 from $205. He noted that the company could experience a 9% sustained revenue growth rate in 2020 and that the company's customer subscription growth gives Palo Alto "meaningful upside potential."
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On the same day, UBS analyst Fatima Boolani upgraded the company's stock from Neutral to Buy and raised her price target from $232 to $250. She noted that Palo Alto's shares are unfairly discounted right now.
Additionally, the company received yet another upgrade at the very end of the month from Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. Ives changed the company's rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised his price target from $225 to $265.
Check out the latest Palo Alto earnings call transcript.
Now what
Shares of the firewall company have continued to climb in February, with its share price up over 4% as of this writing. The company will report its second-quarter results on Feb. 26, so there may be more share price movement in the weeks ahead. Palo Alto's management expects revenue in the range of $675 million to $685 million, which would be a year-over-year increase of 25% at the midpoint of guidance.
