PANW NASDAQ Week ended 18 Sep 2026

Weekly Investor Report

Palo Alto Networks Inc · Technology · Software - Infrastructure

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Latest close 363.58 USD
10.0% latest week
Weekly setup

Constructive, but selective

The weekly trend is active. Price is 36.9% above the Trend Line and sits at 86.4% of its 52-week range. The latest completed week returned 10.0%, after a 1.6% four-week move. The latest factor snapshot indicates quality is middle-of-the-pack; growth is moderate; valuation is expensive relative to peers. Options positioning is bullish with 48/100 conviction, while the latest news-sentiment score is 61/100.

Setup score 67 out of 100
Latest Close 363.58 USD 18 Sep 2026
1W Return 10.0% latest completed week
4W Return 1.6% short-term follow-through
12W Return 19.5% quarterly tape
Trend Breadth 50.0% 26 of 52 weeks active
Volume Ratio 1.4x vs 13-week average
What is working
  • The trend backdrop is active with a 17-week active streak.
  • Price is above the Trend Line, keeping the weekly tape constructive.
  • Price is above Fair Value, showing premium demand versus the model.
  • Activity pressure is positive on the latest completed week.
What could go wrong
  • 14 reversal markers appear in the recent smart-money tape.
What to watch next
  • Trend Line remains the key weekly regime level.
  • Activity pressure is the gauge to monitor for confirmation or fade.
  • A volume ratio above 1.5x would show stronger participation in the next move.
Price follow-through 10.0% Latest completed week; four-week move 1.6%. Indicator stack 72/47 Trend and activity pressure are weighted against the latest 12-week confirmation window. Trend backdrop Active The trend backdrop defines the current weekly regime. Patient Capital Quiet Activity-pressure buy-signal status for institutional accumulation timing. Next-Week Expectancy Positive 56.19% Historical one-week expectancy contributes to the evidence score when direction is confirmed. Options pressure Bullish 48/100 conviction; expected move 5.0%. News sentiment 61/100 227 relevant articles in the latest sentiment read.
01 · Price action

Where price is—and whether the trend supports it

The weekly trend is active. Price is 36.9% above the Trend Line and sits at 86.4% of its 52-week range. The latest completed week returned 10.0%, after a 1.6% four-week move.

Study the full chart

52-week price path

Price vs Trend Line and Fair Value
Price Trend Line Fair Value
02 · Volume and demand

Is real participation confirming the move?

Latest weekly volume is 1.4x the 13-week average. Participation is around or above normal and provides reasonable confirmation.

26-week volume confirmation

Bar height shows volume; colour shows the weekly price direction
27 Mar 3 Apr 10 Apr 17 Apr 24 Apr 1 May 8 May 15 May 22 May 29 May 5 Jun 12 Jun 19 Jun 26 Jun 3 Jul 10 Jul 17 Jul 24 Jul 31 Jul 7 Aug 14 Aug 21 Aug 28 Aug 4 Sep 11 Sep 18 Sep
Up week Down week
Demand beneath price

Activity pressure and institutional-style signals

These indicators assess whether participation is improving beneath the headline price move. They are supporting evidence, not proof of institutional buying.

Activity pressure path

Latest 0.9512-week average 0.93

12-week confirmation

Trend active12/12Active trend-backdrop weeks in the latest 12-week window.
Positive pressure12/12Weeks with constructive activity pressure in the latest 12-week window.
Positive leadership12/12Weeks with positive relative leadership in the latest 12-week window.
Activity pressure0.95Current proprietary activity-pressure read.
Buy signals0Accumulation signal count in the latest 12 weeks.
Reversal markers1414 reversal markers

No recent accumulation markers. 14 reversal markers.

03 · Momentum and leadership

Is performance persistent—and is the stock leading?

Performance is 1.6% over four weeks, 19.5% over 12 weeks, and 74.6% over one year. The current trend has remained active for 17 consecutive weeks.

Performance by holding period

1W10.0%
4W1.6%
12W19.5%
26W123.1%
52W74.6%
Active trend streak17 weeks
Active weeks in one year26
Trend breadth50.0%

Activity pressure vs relative leadership

Activity pressureRelative leadership
Pressure0.17Latest activity-pressure read.
Pressure change-81.1%Four-week change in activity pressure.
Leadership42.22Latest relative-leadership reading.
RS change-8.7%Four-week change in relative leadership.
04 · Fundamentals and valuation

What investors are paying for—and the quality behind it

The latest factor snapshot indicates quality is middle-of-the-pack; growth is moderate; valuation is expensive relative to peers.

Open full factor analysis
Factor week 18 Sep 2026 Financial statements through 31 Jul 2026 Field coverage 94% Model confidence 94%

Relative factor standing

Higher display scores are better. Each score is converted from the underlying universe rank, where rank 1 is best.

Overall factor strength16/100Blend of value, momentum, and quality. Underlying universe rank 85; rank 1 is best.
Value2/100Relative valuation strength. Underlying universe rank 99; rank 1 is best.
Quality29/100Profitability and accounting quality. Underlying universe rank 72; rank 1 is best.
Momentum95/100Medium-term price momentum. Underlying universe rank 6; rank 1 is best.
Growth29/100Revenue and earnings growth. Underlying universe rank 72; rank 1 is best.
How to read this

Quality and valuation are separate questions

A strong company can still carry a demanding valuation. This report shows profitability, growth, balance-sheet strength, and the price paid for those characteristics separately.

Valuation

How much investors are paying for earnings, sales, and cash flow.

P/E
968.8x
Price divided by trailing earnings.
Price / sales
25.9x
Market value relative to trailing revenue.
EV / EBITDA
198.8x
Enterprise value relative to operating cash earnings.
Free-cash-flow yield
1.4%
Free cash flow as a share of enterprise value.

Business quality

Margins and the return generated on invested capital.

Gross margin
70.4%
Gross profit retained from each unit of revenue.
Operating margin
6.1%
Operating profit retained from revenue.
Free-cash-flow margin
35.8%
Free cash flow generated from revenue.
Return on invested capital
1.4%
Operating return generated on invested capital.

Growth and financial strength

Recent business growth and accounting strength.

Revenue growth
24.5%
Latest one-year revenue growth.
EPS growth
-72.9%
Latest one-year earnings-per-share growth.
Free-cash-flow growth
24.2%
Latest one-year free-cash-flow growth.
Piotroski F-score
3/9
Nine-point accounting-strength checklist.

Shareholder return and balance sheet

Cash returned to owners and financial leverage.

Dividend yield
-
Cash dividends relative to market value.
Buyback yield
0.2%
Net share repurchases relative to market value.
Shareholder yield
0.2%
Dividend yield plus net buyback yield.
Net debt / EBITDA
-0.0x
Balance-sheet debt relative to operating cash earnings.
05 · Ownership, options, and sentiment

What other market participants are doing

Options, insider transactions, market sentiment, and activity-pressure signals can confirm or challenge the price story. None should be used alone.

Options positioningBullish

PANW shows bullish options pressure with a 48/100 conviction score, put-call volume ratio of 0.68, expected move of 5.0%, and Sharemaestro trend signal active.

Conviction48/100
Expected move5.0%
Put/call volume0.68
Pressure21
Speculation45
Volatility58
Trend agreement89
Open options detail
Insider activity0 / 20

0 acquisitions and 20 disposals in the latest 180-day insider tape.

Acquisitions / disposals over the latest 180 days. Insider activity is context, not a stand-alone signal.
News sentiment61/100

Weighted news tone is positive across 227 relevant articles.

93 positive · 113 neutral · 21 negative
Patient CapitalQuiet

Activity-pressure buy-signal evidence highlights potential institutional accumulation windows.

No recent buy signal
06 · Catalysts and risk

What can move the shares—and how volatile the path has been

Event timing, options-implied movement, drawdown, and weekly return distribution frame the risk around the current setup.

Next earnings-No event is currently stored.
Options expected move5.0%Nearest-chain priced movement where available.
52-week drawdown-8.8%Distance below the 52-week high.
13-week volatility7.9%Standard deviation of weekly returns.

Weekly gains and losses

Latest 26 completed weeks

Each bar is one week. Gains rise above the zero line; losses fall below it. Taller bars mean a larger weekly move.

Weeks higher18 of 268 weeks finished lower.
Best week+16.8%Week of 15 May.
Worst week-10.3%Week of 4 Sep.
Latest week+10.0%Week of 18 Sep.

Shape of recent returns

Strong gains13
Modest gains5
Flat weeks0
Modest losses2
Sharp losses6
Recent vol7.9%13-week weekly-return volatility.
Base vol6.9%52-week weekly-return volatility.
Up/down split30/22Count of positive and negative weeks in the 52-week window.
Average skew6.1% / -5.2%Average positive week versus average negative week.
07 · Sector and peer context

Is this stock leading—or simply moving with its group?

Sector and industry breadth distinguish company-specific strength from a broad group move.

08 · Evidence and weekly data

The underlying research record

Every top-level statement above should be traceable to a stored market, fundamental, event, or positioning observation.

Weekly tape67/100

Trend, activity pressure, participation, and risk combine to a 67/100 tape read.

 Indicator analysis82/100

Latest 12-week confirmation: trend 12/12, activity pressure 12/12, relative leadership 12/12.

Activity pressure 0.95; 14 reversal markers Next-Week ExpectancyPositive 56.19%

Next-week expectancy is positive with a 56.19% historical one-week setup read.

Adds short-term historical context without overriding trend, activity, or relative leadership. Factors32/100

O'Shaughnessy factor stack blends value, quality, momentum, and confidence.

Buyback Yield rank 31 Patient CapitalQuiet

Activity-pressure buy-signal evidence highlights potential institutional accumulation windows.

No recent buy signal Options70/100

PANW shows bullish options pressure with a 48/100 conviction score, put-call volume ratio of 0.68, expected move of 5.0%, and Sharemaestro trend signal active.

Bullish · Call-side pressure · Expected move 5.0% Sentiment61/100

Weighted news tone is positive across 227 relevant articles.

Palo Alto Jumps 2.4% as S&P 100 Meets AI Security Growth Insiders0 / 20

0 acquisitions and 20 disposals in the latest 180-day insider tape.

 Earnings50/100

No stored earnings event is currently attached to this ticker.

 Research flow6 items

3 recent research articles and 3 Market Watch posts are available.
WeekCloseReturnTrend LineFair ValuePressureLeadershipVolumeTrend
18 Sep 2026363.58 USD10.0%265.58 USD190.94 USD0.1742.2243.9MOn
11 Sep 2026330.65 USD-0.8%258.42 USD189.34 USD0.2631.6419.9MOn
4 Sep 2026333.26 USD-10.3%252.96 USD187.99 USD0.6632.8543.9MOn
28 Aug 2026371.59 USD3.8%247.16 USD186.65 USD0.8949.6827.9MOn
21 Aug 2026357.87 USD-6.9%240.67 USD185.05 USD0.9146.2525.2MOn
14 Aug 2026384.27 USD5.6%234.75 USD183.49 USD0.9654.7726.3MOn
7 Aug 2026363.86 USD9.7%228.20 USD181.70 USD1.0850.0331.6MOn
31 Jul 2026331.83 USD2.5%222.37 USD180.07 USD1.1845.5530.0MOn
24 Jul 2026323.79 USD-9.7%217.29 USD178.64 USD1.3544.2229.7MOn
17 Jul 2026358.68 USD10.1%212.78 USD177.36 USD1.4658.2631.8MOn
10 Jul 2026325.91 USD-6.4%207.05 USD175.84 USD1.3939.1840.2MOn
3 Jul 2026348.06 USD14.4%202.57 USD174.53 USD1.3752.3334.9MOn
26 Jun 2026304.20 USD5.7%197.60 USD173.09 USD1.4335.2933.4MOn
19 Jun 2026287.78 USD2.9%193.80 USD171.96 USD1.4622.7030.3MOn
How to use this report

This is a completed-week research summary. It explains the available evidence and its conflicts; it does not predict a guaranteed outcome or replace your own risk assessment. Fundamental figures may refer to an earlier financial reporting period, which is shown above.

Evidence context