F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $270.43, but opened at $298.50. F5 shares last traded at $288.4560, with a volume of 1,307,878 shares traded.

The network technology company reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $822.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.97 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 22.42%.F5’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.84 EPS. F5 has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.340-3.460 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 15.650-16.050 EPS.

F5 News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results materially beat expectations — EPS $4.45 vs. consensus ~$3.63 and revenue $822.5M vs. ~$756M; management raised Q2 and FY 2026 EPS guidance well above consensus, signaling stronger demand (especially systems/product demand) that drove the rally. Earnings Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital raised its price target from $325 to $345 and kept an “Outperform” rating — the firm highlights upside to the shares on the back of the strong quarter and guidance. RBC Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Market and analyst write-ups emphasize product momentum (11% product revenue growth) and AI/multi‑cloud tailwinds cited on the call — coverage from Zacks, Seeking Alpha and GeekWire captured the positive analyst reaction and after‑hours pop. Zacks Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target from $267 to $283 but kept an “Equal Weight” stance — modest target lift but the rating implies limited near‑term upside versus peers. Barclays Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed a “Hold” — mixed analyst positioning means some investors may take profits even as others chase momentum. Needham Reiterate
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms and investor-alerts highlight ongoing securities-class-action activity tied to a prior material cybersecurity incident (disclosures in Oct 2025); multiple filings and lead‑plaintiff deadlines are active, which remains an overhang and potential legal/cost risk. Class Action Alert

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FFIV shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of F5 in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of F5 from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of F5 in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on F5 from $336.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up previously from $295.00) on shares of F5 in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, F5 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.11.

Insider Transactions at F5

In other F5 news, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.11, for a total transaction of $310,376.99. Following the sale, the director owned 8,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,041,517.10. This represents a 13.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.99, for a total transaction of $308,087.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 150,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,625,047.77. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,815 shares of company stock worth $8,444,286. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of F5

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFIV. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the second quarter valued at approximately $883,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in F5 in the 2nd quarter valued at $240,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its stake in F5 by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 26,330 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,510,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in F5 by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,477 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

F5 Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.88.

F5 Company Profile

F5 Inc (NASDAQ:FFIV) specializes in application services and delivery networking, helping organizations ensure the availability, performance and security of their applications. The company’s core offerings include advanced load balancing, traffic management and application security solutions designed to optimize user experiences and protect against threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and web application exploits.

At the heart of F5’s product portfolio is the BIG-IP platform, which provides a suite of software modules for local and global traffic management, secure web application firewalling and DNS service delivery.