F5, Inc. (FFIV)
NASDAQ:FFIV
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F5, Inc.
(NASDAQ:FFIV)
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Rating:75Outperform
Price Target:
$318.00
▲(4.34% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:03/14/26
FFIV scores well on core fundamentals (high margins, strong ROE, robust free cash flow, and low leverage) and is supported by a strong earnings-call read-through with raised FY26 guidance. The score is tempered by recent TTM revenue contraction, only moderately positive technicals (below the 200-day with elevated stochastic), and a valuation that looks fair rather than clearly discounted (P/E ~20.4, no dividend yield provided).
Positive Factors
High margins & profitability
Sustained very high gross and operating margins plus strong ROE indicate durable pricing power and operational efficiency in application delivery and security. These structural profitability advantages fund R&D, product quality, and long-term competitive positioning across hybrid cloud environments.
Negative Factors
Recent TTM revenue decline
A pronounced trailing‑12‑month revenue contraction signals a meaningful shortfall in top‑line momentum that can persist absent durable demand re-acceleration. Lower revenue scale can constrain R&D spending, reduce operating leverage, and make margin targets harder to sustain long term.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
High margins & profitability
Sustained very high gross and operating margins plus strong ROE indicate durable pricing power and operational efficiency in application delivery and security. These structural profitability advantages fund R&D, product quality, and long-term competitive positioning across hybrid cloud environments.
Read all positive factors
F5, Inc. (FFIV) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$17.22B
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)718.45K
Price to Earnings (P/E)20.4
Beta (1Y)0.79
Revenue Growth9.66%
EPS Growth23.87%
CountryUS
Employees6,114
SectorTechnology
Sector Strength88
IndustrySoftware - Infrastructure
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)4.45
Shares Outstanding56,519,270
10 Day Avg. Volume516,122
30 Day Avg. Volume718,447
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio1.13
Price to Book (P/B)5.21
Price to Sales (P/S)6.06
P/FCF Ratio20.65
Enterprise Value/Market Cap0.96
Enterprise Value/Revenue5.29
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit6.49
Enterprise Value/Ebitda18.62
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$320.43Price Target Upside5.14% Upside
Rating ConsensusHold
Number of Analyst Covering10
EPS Forecast (FY)15.94
Revenue Forecast (FY)$3.27B
F5, Inc. Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
F5, Inc. provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions for the security, performance, and availability of network applications, servers, and storage systems. The company's multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions ...
How the Company Makes Money
F5 primarily makes money by selling and subscribing customers to application delivery and security products and associated support services. Key revenue streams include: (1) Product revenue: Sales of F5 software and, where applicable, purpose-buil...
F5, Inc. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Gross Profit by Segment
Shows the profitability of each business unit, indicating which segments are most efficient and contribute most to the bottom line.
Shows the profitability of each business unit, indicating which segments are most efficient and contribute most to the bottom line.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyF5, Inc. Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Jan 27, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Apr 28, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveyed a strongly constructive picture: solid top-line growth (+7% revenue), robust systems momentum (+37%), improved profitability and a raised FY '26 outlook (revenue growth guide raised to 5%–6% and EPS guidance increased). Management emphasized meaningful AI traction and durable hybrid multi‑cloud demand, and highlighted effective remediation and strengthened security posture after a prior incident. Key negatives include an 8% decline in software revenue (driven by tough comps and lower perpetual sales), rising memory costs that trimmed gross margin guidance, supply-component risk, and a slight APAC decline. Overall, the positives—strong product and systems performance, improved margins, raised guidance, cash generation and demonstrated AI and regional wins—outweigh the cited lowlights.Positive Updates
Overall Revenue and Mix
Total revenue $822M, up 7% year-over-year; balanced mix with product revenue $410M (+11% YoY) and services revenue $412M (+4% YoY). Recurring revenue represented 69% of Q1 revenue.
Negative Updates
Software Revenue Pressure
Total software revenue $192M, down 8% YoY (perpetual licenses down materially to $27M vs an exceptionally strong prior-year quarter); subscription-based software modestly up only 1% ($164M), reflecting tough comps and timing.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Overall Revenue and Mix
Total revenue $822M, up 7% year-over-year; balanced mix with product revenue $410M (+11% YoY) and services revenue $412M (+4% YoY). Recurring revenue represented 69% of Q1 revenue.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
F5 raised its FY‑2026 outlook and provided detailed targets: revenue growth of 5–6% (up from 0–4%), with mid‑single‑digit software growth, double‑digit systems growth, and low‑single‑digit services growth; FY gross margin of 82.5–83.5% (noting modest pressure from rising memory costs), non‑GAAP operating margin of 34–35% (up from 33.5–34.5%), a non‑GAAP effective tax rate of 21–22%, and non‑GAAP EPS of $15.65–$16.05 (raised from $14.50–$15.50); the company expects to repurchase at least 50% of free cash flow (having bought $300M in Q1). For Q2 it guided revenue of $770M–$790M (~7% growth at the midpoint), non‑GAAP gross margin of 82.5–83%, non‑GAAP operating expenses of $390M–$408M, share‑based compensation of ~$70M–$72M, and non‑GAAP EPS of $3.34–$3.46.F5, Inc. Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
72
Positive
Balance Sheet
86
Very Positive
Cash Flow
74
Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Sep 2025 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2023 | Sep 2022 | Sep 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 3.14B | 3.09B | 2.82B | 2.81B | 2.70B | 2.60B |
| Gross Profit | 2.56B | 2.51B | 2.26B | 2.22B | 2.16B | 2.11B |
| EBITDA | 892.30M | 883.83M | 774.24M | 650.66M | 527.31M | 509.45M |
| Net Income | 705.99M | 692.38M | 566.78M | 394.95M | 322.16M | 331.24M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 6.29B | 6.32B | 5.61B | 5.25B | 5.28B | 5.00B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 1.20B | 1.34B | 1.07B | 803.32M | 884.57M | 910.61M |
| Total Debt | 502.58M | 492.54M | 465.35M | 520.55M | 937.05M | 1.01B |
| Total Liabilities | 2.75B | 2.73B | 2.48B | 2.45B | 2.81B | 2.64B |
| Stockholders Equity | 3.54B | 3.59B | 3.13B | 2.80B | 2.47B | 2.36B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 861.19M | 906.41M | 762.01M | 599.23M | 409.01M | 614.54M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 906.10M | 949.67M | 792.42M | 653.41M | 442.63M | 645.20M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -220.07M | -219.49M | -59.21M | 36.39M | 218.12M | -445.33M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -643.15M | -464.81M | -457.00M | -653.30M | -476.51M | -468.28M |
F5, Inc. Technical Analysis
Positive
304.76
Price Trends
283.43
Positive
268.58
Positive
287.27
Positive
Market Momentum
6.24
Negative
60.66
Neutral
88.14
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For FFIV, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 304.76 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 291.47, above the 50-day MA of 283.43, and above the 200-day MA of 287.27, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 6.24 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 60.66 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 88.14 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for FFIV.
F5, Inc. Risk Analysis
F5, Inc. disclosed 41 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. F5, Inc. reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
F5, Inc. Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
75 Outperform | $17.22B | 20.43 | 20.29% | ― | 9.66% | 23.87% | |
74 Outperform | $138.61B | 71.18 | 15.49% | ― | 15.30% | -60.71% | |
72 Outperform | $61.95B | 31.84 | 123.64% | ― | 14.78% | 22.52% | |
70 Outperform | $108.17B | -686.05 | -4.68% | ― | 22.05% | -341.24% | |
66 Neutral | $22.85B | ― | -3.48% | ― | 23.24% | -8.83% | |
61 Neutral | $37.18B | 12.37 | -10.20% | 1.83% | 8.50% | -7.62% | |
57 Neutral | $74.36B | -671.68 | -7.48% | ― | 28.06% | -7.44% |
* Technology Sector Average
FFIV
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F5, Inc. Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesShareholder Meetings
F5 Shareholders Approve 2026 Incentive Plan and Governance Items
Positive
Mar 13, 2026
On March 12, 2026, F5 shareholders approved the 2026 Incentive Award Plan at the fiscal 2025 annual meeting, authorizing 3,500,000 new shares of common stock for issuance and rolling over remaining shares from the prior plan. On the same date, the...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.