Palo Alto Has Long-Term Potential On 'Hybrid' Business Model, Baird Claims

In a report published Wednesday, Baird analyst Jayson Noland maintained an Outperform rating on Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW), while raising the price target from $175 to $210, citing the company's long-term potential.Network Security is a fragmented market "with clear secular tailwinds." Palo Alto has a market share of about 8 percent; however this is growing "considerably faster" than its mainstream competitors. Although the top five vendors account for about 55 percent of the total market, "we often hear in the channel that Palo Alto is the security company receiving the most internal resources," analyst Jayson Noland said.Noland considers Palo Alto's highly integrated and automated platform as "a key differentiator" from what competitors offer. Moreover, Palo Alto appears poised to be "increasingly recognized for its hybrid SaaS model considering a revenue shift from product to subscription services." Citing the ongoing nature of threat management, the Baird report pointed out that subscription revenue tends to be "recurring and very sticky." Noland believes that Palo Alto has the potential to capture at least 20 percent of the overall IT Security market in the long term. Moreover, the security vendor landscape is currently complicated and there is opportunity for "incremental market consolidation over the next 5-10 years." Noland added that Palo Alto could become the primary IT Security provider "as the market expands and consolidates."