Core Insights - F5 Networks reported quarterly earnings of $4.39 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.96 per share, and showing an increase from $3.67 per share a year ago, resulting in an earnings surprise of +10.86% [1] - The company achieved revenues of $810.09 million for the quarter ended September 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.22% and up from $746.67 million year-over-year [2] - F5 shares have increased approximately 18.6% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 15.5% [3] Earnings Outlook - The future performance of F5's stock will largely depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and the company's earnings outlook, which includes current consensus earnings expectations for upcoming quarters [4] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the next quarter is $4.02 on revenues of $789.35 million, and for the current fiscal year, it is $16.00 on revenues of $3.19 billion [7] Industry Context - The Internet - Software industry, to which F5 belongs, is currently ranked in the top 32% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating a favorable outlook compared to the bottom 50% [8] - Alight, Inc., another company in the same industry, is expected to report quarterly earnings of $0.13 per share, reflecting a year-over-year increase of +44.4%, with revenues anticipated to be $535.63 million, down 3.5% from the previous year [9][10]

Core Point - The cyber attack reported in October may lead some customers to delay or cancel deals, according to Chief Executive François Locoh-Donou [1] Company Impact - The cyber attack could negatively affect customer confidence, resulting in potential deal delays or cancellations [1]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company achieved over $3 billion in revenue and $1 billion in operating profit for fiscal year 2025, with revenue growth of 10% and earnings per share growth of 18% [5] - Gross margins improved to 83.6%, up 80 basis points from FY 2024, and operating margins increased to 35.2%, up 160 basis points from FY 2024 [5] - Free cash flow reached a record $906 million, representing a 19% increase compared to FY 2024 [5][13] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Q4 revenue grew 8% to $810 million, with global services revenue at $396 million (up 2% year-over-year) and product revenue at $414 million (up 16% year-over-year) [10] - Systems revenue increased by 42% year-over-year to $186 million, driven by tech refresh and data center modernization [10] - Software revenue totaled $229 million, showing slight growth against a strong Q4 of FY 2024, with perpetual license software up 25% year-over-year [10][11] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Revenue from the Americas grew 7% year-over-year, representing 57% of total revenue, while EMEA and APAC grew 7% and 19%, representing 26% and 17% of revenue, respectively [11] - Enterprise customers accounted for 73% of Q4 product bookings, with government customers at 19% and service providers at 8% [11] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focusing on incident response and enhancing security measures following a recent security incident, with significant investments planned in cybersecurity [6][8] - The strategic emphasis is on hybrid multi-cloud adoption and AI infrastructure demand, positioning the company to address complex customer challenges [21][22] - The company aims to leverage its Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) to unify traffic management and security across hybrid and multi-cloud environments [21] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management anticipates mid-single-digit revenue growth for FY 2026, with potential near-term disruptions due to the recent security incident [16][17] - The company expects FY 2026 gross margins to be in the range of 83%-83.5% and non-GAAP operating margins between 33.5%-34.5% [18][19] - Management remains optimistic about long-term growth drivers, including hybrid multi-cloud adoption and AI readiness [16][21] Other Important Information - The company has seen a significant increase in customers leveraging its XOps capabilities, growing from 20 to nearly 900 customers [22] - The total security revenue for FY 2025 grew 6% to approximately $1.2 billion, representing 39% of total revenue [15] Q&A Session Summary Question: What form of conservatism has been put into estimates? - Management noted that customer resources are focused on upgrading environments, which may delay new project considerations [38] Question: How to size the potential impact from the security breach? - Management took a granular approach to profile revenue streams, identifying which could be more impacted and which would be resilient [46] Question: What percentage of revenue comes from F5 BIG-IP? - F5 BIG-IP is the highest revenue product, but specific revenue contributions are not disclosed [56] Question: Are there additional costs as a result of the data breach? - There are costs related to incident remediation, which may be covered by cyber insurance or accounted for as one-time expenses [57]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company reported exceptional fiscal year 2025 results, exceeding $3 billion in revenue and $1 billion in operating profit, with revenue growth of 10% and earnings per share growth of 18% [5] - Gross margins improved to 83.6%, up 80 basis points from FY24, and operating margins increased to 35.2%, up 160 basis points from FY24 [5] - Free cash flow reached a record $906 million, up 19% compared to FY24, resulting in a free cash flow margin of 29% [13] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Q4 revenue grew 8% to $810 million, with global services revenue at $396 million (up 2% year over year) and product revenue at $414 million (up 16% year over year) [10] - Systems revenue totaled $186 million, up 42% year over year, driven by tech refresh and data center modernization [10] - Software revenue was $229 million, slightly up against a strong Q4 of FY24, with perpetual license software up 25% year over year [10][11] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Revenue from the Americas grew 7% year over year, representing 57% of total revenue, while EMEA and APAC grew 7% and 19%, representing 26% and 17% of revenue, respectively [11] - Enterprise customers accounted for 73% of Q4 product bookings, with government customers at 19% and service providers at 8% [11] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focusing on incident response and enhancing security posture following a recent security incident, with significant investments in security planned for the future [6][8] - The strategic direction emphasizes hybrid multi-cloud adoption and AI infrastructure demand, positioning the company to address complex challenges in application delivery and security [20] - The company aims to leverage its Application Delivery and Security Platform to simplify hybrid multi-cloud complexity and enhance operational efficiency [20] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management anticipates some near-term disruption to sales cycles due to the recent security incident, with guidance for FY26 revenue growth in the range of 0 to 4% [17] - The company expects mid-single-digit revenue growth in FY26, driven by hybrid multi-cloud adoption and a strong systems refresh opportunity [16] - Management remains confident in the long-term growth potential, particularly in software and security revenue, despite short-term challenges [15][17] Other Important Information - The company has made significant investments in cybersecurity, doubling its investment over the last three years, and plans to continue this trend [53] - The total security revenue grew 6% to approximately $1.2 billion, representing 39% of total revenue [15] Q&A Session Summary Question: What form of conservatism have you put into the estimates? - Management noted that customer conservatism may lead to delays in purchasing decisions and additional approvals due to the recent security incident [35][36] Question: How much of fiscal 2025 growth was due to the product upgrade cycle? - Approximately two-thirds of the systems business growth in FY2025 was attributed to tech refresh, with the remainder from data center capacity expansion [38] Question: How do you size the potential impact from the security breach? - Management took a granular approach to profile revenue streams, identifying which would be more impacted and which would be resilient [44][46] Question: What percentage of revenue comes from F5 BIG-IP? - While specific revenue breakdowns are not provided, F5 BIG-IP is the highest revenue product for the company [53] Question: Are there additional costs as a result of the data breach? - There are costs related to incident remediation, which may be covered by cyber insurance or accounted for as one-time expenses [54]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - F5 reported exceptional fiscal year 2025 results, exceeding $3 billion in revenue and $1 billion in operating profit, with revenue growth of 10% and earnings per share growth of 18% [4] - Gross margins improved to 83.6%, up 80 basis points from FY24, and operating margins increased to 35.2%, up 160 basis points from FY24 [4] - Free cash flow reached a record $906 million, up 19% compared to FY24, resulting in a free cash flow margin of 29% [13] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Q4 revenue grew 8% to $810 million, with global services revenue at $396 million (up 2% year-over-year) and product revenue at $414 million (up 16% year-over-year) [10] - Systems revenue totaled $186 million, up 42% year-over-year, driven by tech refresh and data center modernization [10] - Software revenue was $229 million, slightly up against a strong Q4 of FY24, with perpetual license software up 25% year-over-year [11] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Revenue from the Americas grew 7% year-over-year, representing 57% of total revenue, while EMEA and APAC grew 7% and 19%, representing 26% and 17% of revenue, respectively [11] - Enterprise customers accounted for 73% of Q4 product bookings, with government customers at 19% and service providers at 8% [11] Company Strategy and Development Direction - F5's immediate focus is on incident response and enhancing security posture following a security incident, with significant investments in cybersecurity planned for the future [5][7] - The company aims to leverage hybrid multi-cloud adoption and AI-driven infrastructure demand as key growth drivers, with a commitment to innovation in its Application Delivery and Security Platform [21][22] - F5 is transitioning legacy offerings to F5 Distributed Cloud Services, expecting to complete this transition in the first half of FY26 [15] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management anticipates some near-term disruption to sales cycles due to the security incident, with guidance for FY26 revenue growth in the range of 0 to 4% [18] - The company expects to see a return to growth in revenue from SaaS and managed services, driven by the completion of legacy transitions and ongoing demand for hybrid multi-cloud solutions [17] - Management expressed confidence in the long-term growth potential, citing strong demand drivers and a robust pipeline [17] Other Important Information - F5's total security revenue grew 6% to approximately $1.2 billion, representing 39% of total revenue [16] - The company has seen significant growth in AI-related use cases, securing wins with over 30 customers for AI data delivery, runtime security, and factory load balancing [26][27] Q&A Session Summary Question: What form of conservatism has been put into estimates? - Management indicated that customer conservatism may manifest as delays in purchasing decisions and resource allocation towards upgrading environments due to the security incident [36][38] Question: How much of fiscal 2025 growth was due to the product upgrade cycle? - Approximately two-thirds of the systems business growth in FY2025 was attributed to tech refresh, with the remainder from data center capacity expansion [40] Question: How is the potential impact from the security breach sized? - Management took a granular approach to profile revenue streams, identifying which could be more impacted and which would be resilient, with a focus on recurring revenue streams [44][46] Question: What percentage of revenue comes from F5 BIG-IP? - While specific revenue breakdowns are not provided, F5 BIG-IP is noted as the highest revenue product [54] Question: What are the implications of the government shutdown on U.S. Federal business? - Guidance assumes some level of disruption in the federal segment, particularly in Q1, due to project delays related to the government shutdown [78]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - F5 achieved record revenue exceeding $3 billion and operating profit of $1 billion for the first time, with revenue growth of 10% and earnings per share growth of 18% [7][8] - Gross margins improved to 83.6%, up 80 basis points year-over-year, and operating margins increased to 35.2%, up 160 basis points year-over-year [8] - Free cash flow reached $906 million, up 19% compared to FY 2024, highlighting strong financial execution [20] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Q4 revenue grew 8% to $810 million, with product revenue at $414 million (up 16% year-over-year) and global services revenue at $396 million (up 2% year-over-year) [14] - Systems revenue increased by 42% to $186 million, driven by tech refresh and data center modernization [14] - Software revenue totaled $229 million, slightly up against a strong FY 2024, with perpetual license software up 25% year-over-year [15] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Revenue from the Americas grew 7% year-over-year, representing 57% of total revenue, while EMEA and APAC grew 7% and 19%, representing 26% and 17% of revenue, respectively [16] - Enterprise customers accounted for 73% of Q4 product bookings, with government customers at 19% and service providers at 8% [17] Company Strategy and Development Direction - F5's strategy focuses on enhancing security and supporting customers through incident response, with significant investments in cybersecurity [12][24] - The company aims to leverage hybrid multi-cloud adoption and AI infrastructure demand as key growth drivers moving forward [29][36] - F5 is committed to maintaining a strong operating margin while navigating potential near-term disruptions due to recent security incidents [25][26] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management acknowledged potential near-term impacts on sales cycles due to customer focus on security upgrades, with guidance for FY 2026 revenue growth in the range of 0% to 4% [25][49] - The company remains optimistic about long-term growth driven by hybrid multi-cloud architectures and AI readiness [24][29] - Management emphasized the importance of customer relationships and transparency during the incident response process [13][64] Other Important Information - F5's total security revenue grew 6% to approximately $1.2 billion, representing 39% of total revenue [23] - The company plans to continue using at least 50% of free cash flow for share repurchases in FY 2026 [27] Q&A Session Summary Question: What form of conservatism have you put into the estimates? - Management indicated that resources have been focused on assisting customers with upgrades, which may temporarily disrupt normal sales cycles [50][51] Question: How do you size the potential impact from the security breach? - Management took a granular approach to profile revenue streams, assessing which could be more impacted and which would be resilient [60][62] Question: What percentage of revenue comes from BIG IP? - Management confirmed that BIG IP is the highest revenue product but does not break out specific contributions [72] Question: What drives software and system growth from here? - Management highlighted ongoing trends in multi-year software agreements and the transition to hybrid multi-cloud architectures as key growth drivers [86][88]

Q4 & FY25 Results Published October 27, 2025 PERIOD ENDING September 30, 2025 We deliver and secure every app. F5 specializes in application delivery and security. Our solutions are backed by three decades of expertise to ensure that every app is fast, available, secure, and ready for the AI-era. Primary palette Secondary palette Product Group Colors Distributed BIG-IP Next Cloud BIG-IP NGINX Forward-looking statements This presentation contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, that ...

(Reuters) -Cybersecurity firm F5 forecast annual revenue below Wall Street estimates on Monday, warning that a recent systems breach that triggered alarm over potential risks to U.S. and UK government systems would hurt demand for its services. Shares of the company, which serves most of the Fortune 500 firms in some capacity, were down 5.8% in after-hours trading. F5 disclosed earlier this month that hackers had "long-term, persistent access" to certain company systems, including the source code for one ...

Cybersecurity firm F5 on Monday forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates, citing near-term disruption to sales cycles following the recent cybersecurity breach at the company. ...

Revenue Growth - Fourth quarter revenue reached $810 million, an 8% increase year over year, driven by a 16% growth in product revenue and a 42% increase in systems revenue[3] - Fiscal year 2025 revenue totaled $3.09 billion, reflecting a 10% growth compared to $2.82 billion in fiscal year 2024[8] - F5's total net revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2025, were $810,090,000, representing a 8.5% increase from $746,674,000 in the same period of 2024[38] - Net revenues for Q3 2025 reached $810.09 million, a 8.5% increase from $746.67 million in Q3 2024[42] Profitability - GAAP net income for Q4 FY2025 was $190 million, or $3.26 per diluted share, compared to $165 million, or $2.80 per diluted share in Q4 FY2024[7] - Non-GAAP net income for FY2025 was $928 million, or $15.81 per diluted share, up from $794 million, or $13.37 per diluted share in FY2024[11] - Net income for the year ended September 30, 2025, was $692,380,000, up 22.2% from $566,778,000 in 2024[40] - Basic net income per share increased to $3.30 for the three months ended September 30, 2025, from $2.83 in the same period of 2024, reflecting a 16.6% growth[38] - GAAP net income for the quarter was $190.49 million, an increase from $165.30 million in Q3 2024[42] - Non-GAAP net income reached $256.64 million, up from $216.94 million year-over-year[42] - Diluted GAAP net income per share was $3.26, compared to $2.80 in the prior year[42] - Non-GAAP net income per share increased to $4.39 from $3.67 in Q3 2024[42] Operating Performance - GAAP gross profit for FY2025 was $2.51 billion, representing a GAAP gross margin of 81.4%, compared to 80.2% in FY2024[9] - Non-GAAP operating profit for FY2025 was $1.09 billion, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 35.2%, up from 33.6% in FY2024[10] - The gross profit for the three months ended September 30, 2025, was $666,209,000, compared to $602,954,000 for the same period in 2024, indicating a gross margin improvement[38] - GAAP gross profit was $666.21 million with a gross margin of 82.2%, compared to $602.95 million and 80.8% in the previous year[42] - Non-GAAP gross profit increased to $683.26 million, representing a gross margin of 84.3%, up from 83.0% in Q3 2024[42] - GAAP income from operations was $205.65 million, with an operating margin of 25.4%, slightly down from 25.6% in Q3 2024[42] - Non-GAAP income from operations rose to $299.37 million, achieving a 37.0% operating margin, compared to 34.4% in the same quarter last year[42] Future Guidance - The company anticipates total revenue growth of 0% to 4% for fiscal year 2026, with potential near-term disruptions in sales cycles due to a recent security incident[14] - For Q1 FY2026, revenue is guided to be between $730 million and $780 million, with non-GAAP earnings projected between $3.35 and $3.85 per diluted share[16] Cash and Assets - Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period were $1,346,368,000, an increase from $1,078,340,000 at the beginning of the period[40] - Total assets as of September 30, 2025, were $6,319,492,000, compared to $5,613,004,000 as of September 30, 2024, marking a 12.5% increase[36] - F5's total current liabilities increased to $1,612,581,000 as of September 30, 2025, from $1,489,653,000 in 2024, representing an 8.2% rise[36] - The company incurred restructuring charges of $14,163,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to no charges in the same period of 2024[38] - F5's cash provided by operating activities for the year ended September 30, 2025, was $949,666,000, an increase from $792,419,000 in 2024[40] - The company reported a deferred revenue of $1,213,226,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2025, up from $1,121,683,000 in the same period of 2024, indicating a 8.2% growth[36] Leadership Changes - F5's Board of Directors announced that CEO François Locoh-Donou will become Chairman of the Board effective March 2026[17] Security Measures - The company is committed to enhancing security measures across all business aspects following a recent security incident[3]