F5 stock rallies 10% as earnings beat Street view

By Wallace Witkowski

F5 Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Monday after the cloud security company topped expectations for the quarter.

F5 (FFIV) shares surged more than 10% after hours, following a 0.9% rise to close the regular session at $150.21.

The Seattle-based company reported that fiscal third-quarter net income rose to $89 million, or $1.48 a share, from $83 million, or $1.37 a share, from a year ago. Excluding one-time items, the company would have reported earnings of $3.21 a share for the latest quarter.

Revenue rose to $702.6 million from $674.5 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated earnings of $2.86 a share on revenue of $698.9 million.

"We are delivering the gross margin improvement and operating leverage we committed to, and we are confident in our ability to achieve our target of double-digit non-GAAP earnings growth for fiscal year 2023," said François Locoh-Donou, F5's chief executive, in a statement.

For the fourth quarter, F5 forecast adjusted earnings of $3.15 to $3.27 a share on revenue between $690 million and $710 million. Analysts expect earnings of $3.22 a share on revenue of $702.3 million.

-Wallace Witkowski

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07-25-23 0748ET

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