F5 Product Revenue Jumps 23% As Board Adds $1.5 Billion To Buyback
The app-delivery and security company guided fiscal 2027 revenue growth of 8% to 9% and adjusted earnings of $18.00 to $18.30 per share.
F5, which sells software, cloud services and hardware that deliver and secure applications and APIs, said fourth-quarter product revenue jumped 23% and total revenue rose 13% to $917 million. In an 8-K filed Tuesday, the company also said its board approved an additional $1.5 billion for share repurchases.
Hardware leads the quarter
Revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 compared with $810 million a year earlier. Product revenue reached $510 million against $414 million, with systems revenue up 29% to $239 million and software up 19% to $271 million. Services rose 3% to $408 million.
For the full fiscal year, revenue was $3,417 million, up 11% from $3,088 million. Product revenue grew 19% to $1,793 million.
CEO François Locoh-Donou pointed to "Nine consecutive quarters of double-digit product revenue growth."
Margins slip, per-share profit holds
Earnings per share barely moved. Standard-accounting earnings were $3.23 per diluted share against $3.26 a year earlier, and adjusted earnings were $4.42 against $4.39.
Adjusted operating margin fell to 33.7% from 37.0%. Standard operating margin slid to 23.1% from 25.4%.
For fiscal 2026, adjusted earnings were $17.49 per share, up from $15.81.
A bigger buyback and the outlook
The board authorized the extra $1.5 billion on October 23, on top of about $322 million left in the existing program, according to the filing. F5 spent $601 million repurchasing stock in fiscal 2026, up from $502 million the year before, its cash flow statement shows. Shares outstanding were 56,811 thousand at September 30, 2026, against 57,684 thousand a year earlier.
For fiscal 2027, F5 guided to revenue growth of 8% to 9% and adjusted earnings of $18.00 to $18.30 per share. For the first quarter, it guided to revenue of $875 million to $895 million and adjusted earnings of $4.25 to $4.37 per share.
F5 hosts a live webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday to walk through the results and outlook.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — F5, INC. (FFIV) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit ex991-q426earningsreleasef.htm — F5, INC. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- F5 to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards for the Stock? — Yahoo Finance
