FFIV Gears Up to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

F5 Inc. FFIV is scheduled to report first-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Jan. 27, after market close.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, F5 projects non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) in the range of $3.35-$3.85 (midpoint $3.60). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $3.64, suggesting a year-over-year decrease of 5.21%. The figure has been revised upward in the past seven days.

FFIV’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average earnings surprise of 13.58%.

FFIV projects its first-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP revenues between $730 million and $780 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $759.97 million, suggesting a year-over-year decline of 0.85%.

Factors Likely to Influence FFIV’s Q1 Results

FFIV’s Product segment performance in the fiscal first quarter is likely to have benefited from the rise in demand for hybrid multicloud architecture. In the to-be-reported quarter, the software sub-segment is expected to have benefited from FFIV’s flexible consumption program that enables customers to integrate additional modules and attachments in the existing footprint. Our estimate for Software revenues is pegged at $195.6 million.

Strong systems refresh opportunity amid the ongoing transition of FFIV’s legacy systems, like VIPRION and iSeries offerings are likely to drive the systems sub-segment's revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Additionally, FFIV benefits from rising systems demand beyond tech refresh for data sovereignty and AI readiness use cases. These factors are likely to have persisted in the to-be-reported quarter. Our estimate for Systems revenues is pegged at $159.8 million.

The overall product segment has been supported by strong renewal rates, expanding multi-year agreements, increasing platform adoption, and growing penetration of Distributed Cloud Services among large enterprise customers. Strong sales across the Software and Systems divisions are likely to have boosted the overall performance of the Product division. Our estimate for Product revenues is pinned at $355.4 million.

FFIV recovered fast from the data breach and has received feedback that only non-sensitive data was potentially exfiltrated, with affected customers indicating the information posed minimal risk and did not compromise critical systems or customer environments. FFIV also performed rapid identification and remediation, the benefits of which are expected to become evident in the to-be-reported quarter.

Furthermore, the acceleration in BIG-IP and NGINX subscription software deals is expected to have remained a major growth driver in the to-be-reported quarter. BIG-IP’s data point performance, automation capabilities and lower cost of ownership are likely to have helped F5 win multiple deals in the fiscal first quarter.

Earnings Whispers for FFIV

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for FFIV this earnings season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat, which is the case here.

Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate ($3.67 per share) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate ($3.64 per share), is +0.79%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: FFIV carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are some other stocks worth considering, as our model shows that these, too, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.

AMETEK AME has an Earnings ESP of +1.03% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AMETEK is set to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMETEK’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.94 per share, up by a penny over the past 30 days, indicating a rise of 3.7% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Lam Research LRCX has an Earnings ESP of +1.56% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Lam Research is slated to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Jan 28. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LRCX’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.16 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, indicating a rise of 27.5% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Fair Isaac FICO has an Earnings ESP of +2.95% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

It is set to report first-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Jan. 28. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Fair Isaac’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at $6.95 per share, up by 2 cents over the past 30 days, indicating a rise of 20% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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