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# F5 Guides Fiscal 2027 Revenue Growth To 8% To 9% As Hardware Refresh Cools In Second Half
- URL: https://www.bullished.co/f5-guides-fiscal-2027-revenue-growth-to-8-to-9-as-hardware-refresh-cools-in-second-half-d2abe345/
- Published: 2026-10-27T22:01:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-29T17:13:35.000Z
- Description: The CFO said replacement of aging gear will slow late in fiscal 2027, with new AI and takeout business taking up more of the mix.
- Author: Matteo Parrino
- Tags: Earnings, FFIV, Industry: Technology

F5, which sells software, cloud services and hardware that deliver and secure applications, [guided to fiscal 2027 revenue growth of 8% to 9%](https://www.benzinga.com/news/26/10/62641254/f5-q4-2026-earnings-call-transcript?ref=bullished.co) on its fourth-quarter earnings call, with CFO Cooper Werner warning that the hardware refresh cycle behind its systems sales will fade in the second half. The company's results announcement is [here](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202610271605BIZWIRE%5FUSPRX%5F%5F%5F%5F20261027%5FBW415774-1&ref=bullished.co).

## A refresh that runs out of road

Answering a Barclays analyst on the call, Werner said the second-half slowdown in systems growth is "entirely around the cyclical part of the refresh motion." As software end-of-support dates pass, he said, revenue from replacing legacy installed gear will decline over the back half.

He said roughly two-thirds of systems business in recent years has come through that refresh motion and about a third from new opportunities such as direct AI use cases, capacity expansion and competitive takeouts. He expects next year's mix to lean toward new business.

CEO Francois Locoh-Donou said the quarter was one of the strongest in several years for directly displacing rival application delivery products, and he expects that to continue.

## The quarter behind the guide

F5 reported fourth-quarter revenue of [$917 million](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202610271605BIZWIRE%5FUSPRX%5F%5F%5F%5F20261027%5FBW415774-1&ref=bullished.co), up 13% from a year earlier and above the top of its guidance range. Product revenue rose 23% to $510 million, and systems revenue of $239 million was up 29%. For the full year, revenue was $3.4 billion, up 11%.

Locoh-Donou said 29% of the company's top 1,000 customers now deploy three or more product families, up from 22% in 2025\. He also said direct AI use case bookings for the year were well over $100 million, up nearly 300%.

For the first quarter, F5 guided to revenue of $875 million to $895 million and adjusted earnings of $4.25 to $4.37 a share. The board authorized an additional $1.5 billion for buybacks, bringing total authorization to $1.8 billion.

## Inventory and pricing

Werner said F5 is building inventory, with the biggest increases in the first half of fiscal 2027\. He told a Piper Sandler analyst the company is positioned for "upside," though the supply chain is not completely de-risked.

On pricing, Werner said F5 plans to keep annual price increases, with an off-cycle change possible if costs accelerate. Fourth-quarter free cash flow was $91 million, which he tied partly to inventory builds and supplier prepayments.

F5 will report first-quarter results against that $875 million to $895 million revenue range, the first test of Werner's second-half warning on systems.

Learn

- [How To Read An Earnings Call Transcript: Start With Guidance, Then Find What's Missing →](https://www.bullished.co/learn/how-to-read-an-earnings-call/)  
How to read an earnings call transcript: check guidance first, look for dropped metrics, compare growth with last quarter, and watch hedged wording.

### Sources

- [F5 Reports Fourth Quarter Results with 23% Product Revenue Growth – Company Announcement - FT.com](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202610271605BIZWIRE%5FUSPRX%5F%5F%5F%5F20261027%5FBW415774-1&ref=bullished.co) — Financial Times
- [F5 Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript](https://www.benzinga.com/news/26/10/62641254/f5-q4-2026-earnings-call-transcript?ref=bullished.co) — benzinga.com
- [Here’s How Much You Would Have Made Owning F5 Stock In The Last 5 Years - F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV)](https://www.benzinga.com/news/26/10/62625386/here-s-how-much-you-would-have-made-owning-f5-stock-last-5-years?ref=bullished.co) — benzinga.com
- [F5 dips as fiscal 2027 revenue guidance shows slight deceleration | Seeking Alpha](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4658407-f5-dips-as-fiscal-2027-revenue-guidance-shows-slight-deceleration?ref=bullished.co) — seekingalpha.com

### More on F5

- [F5 Stock Plunges 13%, Wiping Out $3.5 Billion, As Growth Outlook Points To A Slowdown](https://www.bullished.co/f5-stock-plunges-13-wiping-out-3-5-billion-as-growth-outlook-points-to-a-slowdown-401003de/)
- [F5 Will Double Its AI Security Sales Force In 2027 As Spending Squeezes Margins](https://www.bullished.co/f5-will-double-its-ai-security-sales-force-in-2027-as-spending-squeezes-margins-316a8e64/)
- [F5 Product Revenue Jumps 23% As Board Adds $1.5 Billion To Buyback](https://www.bullished.co/f5-product-revenue-jumps-23-as-board-adds-1-5-billion-to-buyback-ae6838a1/)

[All F5 (FFIV) coverage →](https://www.bullished.co/tag/ffiv/)