F5 pairs AI-security investment with 8%-9% FY27 growth outlook

Transcript intelligence

What changed

F5 moved from the prior quarter's raised FY26 outlook to an FY27 framework of 8%-9% revenue growth, double-digit product growth, and 33%-35% non-GAAP operating margin. AI bookings, sovereign deployments, and planned sales and marketing expansion became more prominent, while operating leverage and the durability of systems demand remain key questions.

Guidance delta

Management maintained a confident outlook, calling for FY27 revenue growth of 8%-9%, double-digit product growth, and 33%-35% non-GAAP operating margin.

Key takeaways

• FY26 revenue reached $3.4 billion, with product revenue up 23% and Q4 product growth at 23%.
• Direct AI bookings topped $100 million, up 300% year over year, spanning AI security, data delivery, and AI factory load balancing.
• Management cited large financial-sector wins and sovereign AI deployments in Asia and Europe.
• F5 plans to double AI-security specialist sales headcount and more than double related marketing spend in FY27.
• F5 Insight reached more than 200 customers within three months of launch.

Management priorities

• Scale AI security through additional specialist sales capacity and marketing.
• Expand AI data delivery features, including S3 and MCP protocol support.
• Build AI Guardrails and AI factory load balancing for sovereign AI deployments.
• Continue expanding global POP infrastructure for distributed cloud services.