Palo Alto Networks PANW is seeing early traction with Prisma Artificial Intelligence Runtime Security (AIRS). Prisma AIRS is PANW's AI security platform, which is designed to secure AI models and AI-powered applications across their lifecycle, including model scanning, red teaming and runtime protection. Management noted that enterprises are moving beyond AI experimentation and beginning to use AI in real workflows. As that happens, security becomes more important, and PANW is positioning AIRS to secure AI from development, all the way through production.
The early adoption numbers are strong. Prisma AIRS has already crossed 100 customers by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2026, even though it was launched only a few quarters ago. Customer count for Prisma AIRS more than tripled on a sequential basis in the second quarter, while bookings doubled during the same period. In addition, Prisma AIRS has already built a nine-figure pipeline, suggesting strong customer demand.
Palo Alto recently launched Prisma AIRS 3.0, which expands the product into agentic AI security. Prisma AIRS 3.0 helps customers discover AI agents, assess their risks and protect them at runtime. It also adds visibility into AI agents across cloud, SaaS and endpoint environments. This matters because many companies can monitor AI interactions, but they still lack visibility into what AI agents are actually doing. Prisma AIRS 3.0 is designed to protect that gap.
Prisma AIRS is also part of Palo Alto Networks’ broader AI security strategy. Along with products like XSIAM and planned AI endpoint protection through the Koi acquisition, PANW is building a broader platform around AI security. With rising customer traction and expanding capabilities, Prisma AIRS could become an important growth driver over time.
How Competitors Fare Against PANW
Competitors like CrowdStrike CRWD and SentinelOne S are also gaining ground through platform expansion and AI innovation.
CrowdStrike ended its fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 with $4.66 billion in ARR, reflecting 20% year-over-year growth. The robust increase was fueled by the growing adoption of CrowdStrike’s Falcon Flex subscription model.
Though comparatively a small competitor, SentinelOne posted fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 year-over-year growth of 22% in its ARR. The growth was fueled by the rising adoption of SentinelOne’s AI-first Singularity platform and Purple AI.
PANW’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Palo Alto Networks have lost 27.3% in the past six months compared with the Zacks Security industry’s decline of 28.9%.
PANW 6-month Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Palo Alto Networks trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 9.51X compared with the industry’s average of 9.42X.
PANW Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 11.4 and 8.4%, respectively. Estimates for fiscal 2026 and 2027 have both been revised down over the past 60 and 30 days, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Palo Alto Networks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).