Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusHold60 ratings
Bullish2541.7%
Neutral3253.3%
Bearish35.0%
1 unmapped firm rating excluded from the percentages.
F5, Inc. · FFIV · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q2 2026
F5 Beats Q2 Estimates, Raises FY26 Outlook on AI Inference and Security Demand
F5 delivered a strong Q2 FY2026, with 11% revenue growth driven by accelerating product demand across systems (+26%) and software (+17%). The company beat consensus EPS by 12.7% and revenue by 3.6%, prompting a raised full-year outlook to 7-8% revenue growth. Three secular trends—hybrid multicloud adoption, an expanding threat landscape, and AI inference workloads—are reinforcing each other, creating durable demand for F5's converged delivery and security platform. The stock responded with an 8% abnormal move on the print and has drifted 16.8% higher subsequently, with analyst consensus targets at $416.60 versus a current price of $388.75.
Reported After market closeNASDAQTechnology
$21.83B market cap
100quality score
Company context
Snapshot as of publicationF5, Inc. is a technology company specializing in comprehensive solutions designed to secure and optimize the delivery of applications across various cloud environments. Their core mission is to guarantee the security, peak performance, and constant availability of critical network applications, servers, and storage systems for their clients. Through their multi-cloud offerings, F5 empowers organizations to seamlessly develop, deploy, operate, secure, and govern their applications, whether these reside in traditional on-premises infrastructures or modern public cloud platforms. The company's extensive product portfolio includes a range of application security and delivery tools: Robust hardware like BIG-IP appliances and VIPRION chassis, complemented by their software modules and virtual editions. Software-defined solutions such as Local Traffic Manager and DNS Services for efficient traffic handling. Advanced network protection with Advanced Firewall Manager and Policy Enforcement Manager.…
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$3.90
Consensus $3
EPS surprise
+12.7%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$811.7M
Consensus $783.8M
Revenue surprise
+3.6%
Reported versus consensus
Earnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$388.75Current
$175Low
$283.43Average
$475High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 31, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piper Sandler | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jul 28, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Barclays | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jul 28, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jun 9, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Underperform | Underperform | Maintain | May 26, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Outperform | In Line | Upgrade | May 18, 2026 |
| Needham | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Apr 29, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jan 28, 2026 |
| Keybanc | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jan 18, 2024 |
| TD Cowen | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Apr 20, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 20, 2023 |
| Cowen & Co. | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jan 25, 2023 |
| Loop Capital | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 18, 2023 |
| Citigroup | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 14, 2022 |
| MKM Partners | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Oct 23, 2020 |
| Wolfe Research | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 24, 2020 |
| Nomura Instinet | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 28, 2020 |
| Nomura | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 28, 2020 |
| Bank of America | Underperform | Buy | Downgrade | Dec 5, 2019 |
| Piper Jaffray | Overweight | Neutral | Upgrade | Sep 9, 2019 |
| PiperJaffray | Neutral | Underweight | Upgrade | Mar 29, 2019 |
| William Blair | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Jan 17, 2019 |
| BMO Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Oct 25, 2018 |
| Standpoint Research | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Oct 12, 2018 |
| DA Davidson | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | May 16, 2018 |
| Deutsche Bank | Sell | Sell | Maintain | Oct 3, 2017 |
| Wells Fargo | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Jul 27, 2017 |
| Oppenheimer | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Jul 27, 2017 |
| Bernstein | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Nov 30, 2016 |
| Wunderlich Securities | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Oct 27, 2016 |
| Wunderlich | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Oct 27, 2016 |
| Pacific Crest | Overweight | Downgrade | May 17, 2016 | |
| Buckingham Research | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 21, 2016 |
| Baird | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 21, 2016 |
| SunTrust Robinson Humphrey | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jan 21, 2016 |
| Jefferies | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Jan 21, 2016 |
| Sterne Agee CRT | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | Jan 15, 2016 |
| Sterne Agee | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | Jan 15, 2016 |
| JMP Securities | Market Perform | Market Outperform | Downgrade | Nov 13, 2015 |
| Raymond James | Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Sep 25, 2015 |
| Guggenheim | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 22, 2015 |
| Wedbush | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Mar 4, 2015 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Jan 22, 2015 |
| Stifel | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Jan 22, 2015 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Oct 29, 2014 |
| ISI Group | Strong Buy | Buy | Upgrade | Aug 19, 2014 |
| UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 24, 2014 |
| D.A. Davidson | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 9, 2014 |
| Northland | Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Apr 4, 2014 |
| Dougherty | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Feb 10, 2014 |
| McAdams Wright Ragen | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Jan 23, 2014 |
| Janney Montgomery Scott | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 22, 2014 |
| Janney Capital | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 22, 2014 |
| FBR Capital | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Apr 26, 2013 |
| Topeka Capital | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Apr 5, 2013 |
| Topeka | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Apr 5, 2013 |
| Craig-Hallum | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 3, 2013 |
| FBN Securities | Sector Perform | Sector Perform | Maintain | Jan 25, 2013 |
| Miller Tabak | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 19, 2012 |
| Bank oferica | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 3, 2012 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $388.75. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piper Sandler | James Fish | $461 | $402.12 | +18.6% | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $397 | $407.96 | +2.1% | Jul 28, 2026 |
| BOCOM International Holdings Company | Analyst unavailable | $300 | $407.96 | -22.8% | Jul 28, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $450 | $396.19 | +15.8% | Jun 9, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $475 | $362.58 | +22.2% | May 18, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $292 | $303.79 | -24.9% | Apr 29, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $345 | $293.93 | -11.3% | Jan 28, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $325 | $256.63 | -16.4% | Jan 5, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $295 | $256.63 | -24.1% | Jan 5, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | James Fish | $277 | $265.13 | -28.7% | Oct 28, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $352 | $342.35 | -9.5% | Oct 10, 2025 |
| Barclays | Tim Long | $321 | $298.99 | -17.4% | Jul 31, 2025 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $310 | $300.46 | -20.3% | Jan 29, 2025 |
| Bank of America Securities | Tal Liani | $180 | $240.54 | -53.7% | Oct 29, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | James Fish | $246 | $218.36 | -36.7% | Oct 29, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $240 | $218.36 | -38.3% | Oct 29, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Michael Ng | $241 | $218.36 | -38.0% | Oct 29, 2024 |
| Jefferies | George Notter | $225 | $218.36 | -42.1% | Oct 29, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Amit Daryanani | $240 | $218.36 | -38.3% | Oct 29, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Michael Ng | $212 | $220.38 | -45.5% | Sep 23, 2024 |
| Needham | Alex Henderson | $235 | $196.98 | -39.5% | Jul 30, 2024 |
| J.P. Morgan | Samik Chatterjee | $215 | $197.06 | -44.7% | Jul 30, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | James Fish | $186 | $200.66 | -52.2% | Jul 30, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $205 | $177.59 | -47.3% | Jul 30, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Amit Daryanani | $210 | $177.59 | -46.0% | Jul 30, 2024 |
| Needham | Alex Henderson | $220 | $178.34 | -43.4% | Jul 29, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | James Fish | $167 | $165.31 | -57.0% | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Amit Daryanani | $180 | $182.13 | -53.7% | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Anthony Petrone | $190 | $192.44 | -51.1% | Apr 11, 2024 |
| Needham | Alex Henderson | $180 | $158.98 | -53.7% | Jul 25, 2023 |
| Needham | Alex Henderson | $151.5 | $71.81 | -61.0% | Sep 23, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $175 | $165.5 | -55.0% | Jul 28, 2022 |
| Piper Sandler | James Fish | $197 | $170.49 | -49.3% | Apr 29, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $235 | $193.91 | -39.5% | Apr 27, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Analyst unavailable | $225 | $169.16 | -42.1% | Apr 27, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $200 | $193.91 | -48.6% | Apr 27, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Jim Suva | $210 | $202.49 | -46.0% | Jan 26, 2022 |
| Colliers Securities | Catharine Trebnick | $275 | $202.49 | -29.3% | Jan 26, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Matthew Hedberg | $210 | $202.49 | -46.0% | Jan 26, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Sami Badri | $270 | $202.49 | -30.5% | Jan 26, 2022 |
| KeyBanc | Thomas Blakey | $307 | $223.5 | -21.0% | Jan 18, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | James Faucette | $280 | $235.89 | -28.0% | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Goldman Sachs | Rod Hall | $175 | $216.02 | -55.0% | Oct 27, 2021 |
Track every rating change on FFIV the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeMarket reaction
event-close to next-session close
Stock move
+8.0%
Event window
SPY move
-0.0%
Same window
Abnormal move
+8.0%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
2.3×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
+16.8%
Up to 20 sessions
FFIVSPY benchmark
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Try FN2 freeTranscript intelligence
What changed
Revenue growth accelerated from 7% in Q1 to 11% in Q2, with product revenue growth stepping up from 11% to 22%. Systems revenue growth decelerated from 37% to 26% while software growth accelerated from mid-single-digit to 17%. FY2026 revenue guidance was raised from 5-6% to 7-8%, the second consecutive quarterly increase. Management disclosed $50M in AI-related sales for H1 with approximately 100 customers, representing over 200% YoY growth—a new quantification of the AI opportunity. The NVIDIA BlueField DPU integration was highlighted as yielding 30-40% efficiency gains for AI factories and is now part of NVIDIA's reference architecture. Several new AI-powered security products launched during the quarter. Hardware win-backs generated approximately $60M from customers who had previously stopped buying F5 hardware.
Guidance delta
FY2026 revenue growth guidance was raised from 5-6% to 7-8%, marking the second consecutive quarter of increases. The Q2 raise reflects stronger-than-expected product demand and early traction in AI-related sales. Memory cost pressures were flagged as a potential headwind to margins in Q3-Q4, but the improved revenue outlook signals management's confidence in demand durability.
Key takeaways
- Revenue grew 11% YoY to $811.7M, beating consensus estimates by 3.6%.
- EPS of $3.90 exceeded estimates of $3.46 by 12.7%.
- Product revenue surged 22%, with systems up 26% and software up 17%.
- FY2026 revenue guidance raised from 5-6% to 7-8% growth.
- AI-related sales reached $50M in H1 with ~100 customers, up over 200% YoY.
- NVIDIA DPU integration delivers 30-40% efficiency gains for AI factories.
Management priorities
- Launch and drive adoption of AI-powered security products (AI-WAF, Agentic Bot Defense, AI Remediate).
- Deepen NVIDIA partnership and DPU-based product roadmap for AI factory optimization.
- Host Analyst and Investor Day on May 28, 2026 to outline longer-term strategy.
- Expand field coverage in EMEA, especially defense and digital-sovereignty segments.
- Invest in next-gen hardware platforms with PQC readiness.
- Manage memory cost pressures through supply-chain diversification and pricing actions.
Related earnings events
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Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.