> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bullished.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Tenable Co-CEO Says PHP2Shell Had 'Little Impact' On The Quarter, But Sees A 'Durable Tailwind'
- URL: https://www.bullished.co/tenable-co-ceo-says-php2shell-had-little-impact-on-the-quarter-but-sees-a-durable-tailwind-294c62fa/
- Published: 2026-10-28T21:56:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T21:56:09.000Z
- Description: Steve Vintz said the new flaw drove a surge in use of Tenable's Hexa AI assistant, with sales effects still too early to measure.
- Author: Matteo Parrino
- Tags: Earnings, TENB, Industry: Technology

[Tenable](https://www.bullished.co/tag/tenb/) co-CEO Steve Vintz said on the company's Wednesday earnings call that the PHP2Shell vulnerability had "little impact in the quarter just given the timing," even as he predicted "a good durable tailwind of growth" for the cybersecurity company. Quarterly revenue came in at [$276.4 million](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/28/3390740/0/en/tenable-announces-third-quarter-2026-financial-results.html?ref=bullished.co), up 9.5% from a year earlier, according to CFO Matt Brown.

## Momentum predates the new flaw

Tenable makes software that helps organizations find and fix weaknesses across cloud, web, identity and industrial systems. Vintz said the quarter's inflection came from what management has been describing since early in the year: AI-driven vulnerability discovery pushing customers to expand, which he tied to Anthropic's Mythos model (the transcript renders the word garbled).

PHP2Shell, a critical vulnerability disclosed the week before the call, arrived too late to move the numbers. Vintz called it a real-time example of AI reshaping the attack surface faster than most organizations can respond.

After the disclosure, customers turned to Hexa AI, Tenable's agentic engine, and prompt volume rose "by as much as 5x," he said. Hexa has evaluated more than 2 billion assets and findings since June.

## Too early to put a number on it

Asked by an analyst how Log4J, an earlier major flaw, affected the business, Vintz said the expansion rate rose in the quarter after it surfaced, with growth and new business also strengthening the next quarter. On PHP2Shell, he said, "It's too early to quantify right now."

He added that "security teams are buried right now" working out what the flaw means for them, and that this takes time. Webinar attendance and web traffic are at records, he said.

Vintz also pointed to scale: 90,000 new CVEs, the public catalog of vulnerabilities, have been published this year and 15,000 so far this month. It took 26 years to record over 300,000, the total at the start of the year, he said.

## The numbers behind the call

Net dollar expansion, which measures how much more existing customers spend than a year earlier, rose to 107% from 106% in the second quarter. Tenable One, the company's platform, made up a record 59% of new business, up from 50% last quarter and 39% a year ago.

Brown said non-GAAP (adjusted) operating income was $74.9 million, or 27.1% of revenue. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.63, including a one-time tax benefit worth $0.03.

The company raised full-year revenue guidance to $1.084 billion to $1.087 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue is [expected at $277 million](https://wtop.com/local/2026/10/tenable-q3-earnings-snapshot/?ref=bullished.co) to $280 million.

Brown said he expects net dollar expansion to hold at 107% in the fourth quarter, the first number that will show whether the PHP2Shell demand is real.

### Sources

- [Tenable: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News](https://wtop.com/local/2026/10/tenable-q3-earnings-snapshot/?ref=bullished.co) — wtop.com
- [Tenable: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | 9news.com](https://www.9news.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/tenable-q3-earnings-snapshot/616-adbe896f-3e8a-4a30-a4e9-273400f9da6a?ref=bullished.co) — Associated Press
- [Tenable Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/28/3390740/0/en/tenable-announces-third-quarter-2026-financial-results.html?ref=bullished.co) — globenewswire.com
- [Tenable Selected by Atos to Power Continuous Threat](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/27/3389051/0/en/tenable-selected-by-atos-to-power-continuous-threat-exposure-management-program.html?ref=bullished.co) — globenewswire.com

### More on Tenable Holdings

- [Tenable's Adjusted Operating Margin Climbs To 27.1% As Quarterly Sales Rise 9.5%](https://www.bullished.co/tenables-adjusted-operating-margin-climbs-to-27-1-as-quarterly-sales-rise-9-5-881bb77d/)
- [Tenable Opens A $400 Million Revolving Credit Line, Undrawn, Maturing October 2031](https://www.bullished.co/tenable-opens-a-400-million-revolving-credit-line-undrawn-maturing-october-2031-5723624b/)

[All Tenable Holdings (TENB) coverage →](https://www.bullished.co/tag/tenb/)