Palo Alto Networks Inc. shares fell Monday following the surprise announcement of a new chief executive and a weak earnings outlook just before posting strong quarterly results.
Palo Alto PANW, -2.40% shares on Monday opened briefly above their Friday close, touched an all-time high of $214.69, and quickly dropped lower. Shares were last trading down 2.9% at $203.17.
The network security company reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $46.7 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with $60.9 million, or 67 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 99 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast 96 cents a share.
Revenue rose 31% to $567.1 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $547.4 million, as product and subscription and support revenue both rose more than expected, and billings jumped 33% to $721 million, compared with the $668.8 million expected by the Street.
Overshadowing earnings, however, was the announcement made late Friday that Mark McLaughlin was being succeeded as chairman and chief executive by Nikesh Arora, who has held C-level positions at SoftBank and Google.
