RBC Capital has increased its 12-month price target for F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV) to $345.00 from $325.00 while retaining an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm pointed to F5's robust quarterly showing and said the October 2025 security incident had a minimal effect on reported results.
In its note, RBC highlighted that F5 raised its fiscal 2026 guidance and said the updated outlook reflects "essentially no conservatism for the incident." The firm attributed the company's performance to a mix of factors including hybrid multi-cloud adoption, ongoing refresh momentum, and what RBC called an enterprise AI adoption trend that "appears to be hitting an inflection point." RBC also flagged strength across the US Federal sector and in the EMEA region as contributors to the quarter.
RBC's view is that the stock still has "additional room to run," a conclusion the firm linked to the potential for further estimate revisions and multiple expansion. The increase in the price target to $345 was driven by higher internal estimates at RBC, which left its Outperform rating unchanged.
F5's most recent reported quarter was notable for its magnitude of outperformance versus consensus. For the first quarter of fiscal 2026 the company delivered earnings per share of $4.45, ahead of the consensus $3.65 estimate, a surprise quantified in coverage notes as 21.92 percent. Revenue came in at $822 million versus an expected $755.96 million.
Following the quarterly beat, F5 raised its full fiscal 2026 guidance: revenue was increased by 3.5 percent and full-year EPS guidance was raised by $0.85. Those adjustments prompted reactions across the sell-side, with multiple shops moving their targets.
Piper Sandler raised its price target for F5 to $325 while maintaining an Overweight rating. Evercore ISI lifted its target to $320 and kept an In Line rating. Needham analyst Ryan Koontz reiterated a Hold rating after noting that the company beat consensus revenue and earnings estimates by 9 percent and $0.79, respectively.
The cluster of analyst actions underscores the market response to F5's stronger-than-forecast performance and the management-led guidance lift. RBC's comment that guidance now embeds essentially no conservatism related to the October 2025 incident highlights the firm's assessment that near-term operating results and forward-looking assumptions are not being materially discounted for that event.
Investors and market participants watching enterprise networking and application delivery names will likely focus on the sustainability of the trends RBC and peers identified - cloud migration cycles, refresh spending, federal contracting, regional strength in EMEA, and enterprise AI uptake - as they evaluate forward estimates and valuation multiples.