Oct 27, 2026 earnings call — F5 emphasizes AI security and platform consolidation
Q4 revenue of $917 million, up 13% year over year and above guidance.
Revenue $0.9B (est $0.9B) · EPS $4.42 (est $4.26) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $0.9B–$0.9B
Key quotes
"In <6 months since launching in March, we ended Q4 with 300+ customers deploying our AI powered WAF capabilities. And >75% of these deployments are operating in blocking mode."
"Customers operating across on premises, colocation, and cloud environments cannot meet data residency and compliance requirements with disconnected point tools."
"Direct AI use case bookings for the year more than doubled from the first half to well over $100 million in FY 2026."
Analyst Q&A 7
AI market size and growth
Q (Matt Hedberg · RBC): Analyst asked the size of the AI addressable market and how AI bookings might scale and accelerate growth.
A: Management said their 2030 AI addressable market is about $11 billion across three areas. They said AI data delivery is the largest area today, AI security is early but shows traction, and AI factory load balancing should grow in 2027.
"I think we shared at our Investor Day that we expected our addressable market, by 2030 to be ~$11 billion in AI, of which $9 billion was AI security about $1 billion in AI data delivery, and $1 billion in AI factory load balancing." — Francois Locoh-Donou (CEO·CHAIR)
Why OpEx rose and outlook drivers
Q (Joseph Cardoso · JPMorgan): Analyst asked why operating expenses rose this quarter and what assumptions drive the guide, plus what would flip to better flow through.
A: Management said the main OpEx driver is investments to fund future growth, especially adding sales capacity and specialists for AI security. They expect OpEx as a percent of revenue to decline over the year as revenue growth flows through.
"But essentially, the biggest driver on the OpEx are investments that we are making to drive future growth." — Edward Cooper Werner (CFO)
Systems refresh vs new growth
Q (Tim Long · Barclays): Analyst asked if the first-half strength then second-half slowdown is just the refresh cycle ending, or if share gains are done; also asked about software drivers.
A: Management said the second-half slowdown is mainly the tail of the refresh motion called "refresh plus." They said new use cases, expansion, and AI data delivery remain strong and competitive takeouts continue.
"it is entirely around the part of the refresh motion, and you have heard us refer to as a refresh plus, where we see, a deceleration is just on that part of the motion." — Edward Cooper Werner (CFO)
Sales push and incentives for AI GuardRail
Q (George Notter · Wolfe): Analyst asked how much sales and marketing push is behind the AI GuardRail product and whether sellers are incentivized to sell it.
A: Management said they are investing heavily: they will double the specialist seller headcount in 2027 and more than double marketing investment for AI security. They also added incentives for the whole field force to engage customers on AI security.
"The specialist seller headcount that we have will be doubling in 2027." — Francois Locoh-Donou (CEO·CHAIR)
Supply, inventory and memory risk
Q (James Fish · Piper Sandler): Analyst asked if they have enough supply to meet guidance and the reason for rising inventory, plus how to think about software pieces (SaaS ARR vs term license).
A: Management said they invested early and secured memory and storage components, so they feel well positioned for the guide and upside, though supply risk is monitored. They said ARR growth gives visibility and they expect healthy growth in both SaaS and term licenses, with some term growth weighted to the back half.
"So we feel very good, particularly around memory and storage, which is the area that we felt like would be at most at risk." — Edward Cooper Werner (CFO)
EMEA strength and product mix
Q (Meta Marshall · Morgan Stanley): Analyst asked if EMEA data sovereignty projects are one-time projects and asked for a breakdown of product growth between refresh and new opportunities.
A: Management said EMEA sovereignty moves are a lasting change in architecture that drives ongoing deployments, not one-off projects. They said about one third of recent systems revenue is net new opportunities and two thirds is refresh-related, and the mix stayed stable.
"it is not a project-based, 1-off set of decisions that are made." — Francois Locoh-Donou (CEO·CHAIR)
Pricing cadence and cost pressure
Q (John Jeffrey Hopson · Needham): Analyst asked about the company's pricing cadence given changing memory costs and whether they will adjust prices more often.
A: Management said they plan to keep an annual pricing cadence to capture innovation value and to address cost pressures, but they may make off-cycle adjustments if costs accelerate materially.
"If we see an acceleration in cost, we may make an off cycle adjustment." — Edward Cooper Werner (CFO)