Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Outlook for F5 Earnings

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of F5 in a report issued on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the network technology company will earn $2.78 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.05. Zacks Research has a “Strong Sell” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for F5’s current full-year earnings is $11.20 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for F5’s Q2 2026 earnings at $2.49 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.00 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.27 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $11.55 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.87 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.87 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $3.23 EPS and Q4 2027 earnings at $3.47 EPS.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The network technology company reported $4.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $810.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.06 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 22.42%.The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. F5 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.500-15.500 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 3.350-3.850 EPS.

FFIV has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on F5 from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of F5 from $355.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of F5 from $350.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.56.

F5 Stock Performance

Shares of F5 stock opened at $238.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. F5 has a 1 year low of $227.04 and a 1 year high of $346.00.

Institutional Trading of F5

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in F5 during the first quarter valued at approximately $469,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of F5 by 689.3% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 7,364 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after acquiring an additional 6,431 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,622 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of F5 in the 2nd quarter worth $240,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of F5 by 15.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,477 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other F5 news, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 1,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.97, for a total value of $262,282.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of F5 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.98, for a total value of $328,874.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,357,586.54. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,117 shares of company stock valued at $6,297,504. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About F5

F5, Inc provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud.