FFIV vs AKAM vs PANW Stock Comparison

F5, Akamai Technologies and Palo Alto Networks Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FFIV F5, Inc.
$459.36 +3.7% 1M +58.2% 1Y
Market cap
$20.75B
P/E
28.7x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
2 wins
AKAM Akamai Technologies Inc
$99.59 -12.6% 1M +31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$14.18B
P/E
34.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.32B
Div. yield
–
Content Delivery Networks Technology
3 wins
PANW Palo Alto Networks Inc
$401.70 +7.2% 1M +82.4% 1Y
Market cap
$296.28B
P/E
965.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.48B
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Palo Alto Networks leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Palo Alto Networks 4, Akamai Technologies 3, F5 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFFIVAKAMPANWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $20.75B $14.18B $296.28B PANW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 28.7x 34.5x 965.1x FFIV
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.3x 15.8x 91.9x AKAM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +5.9% +24.5% PANW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 9.5% 2.7% AKAM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -1.4x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +58.2% +31.9% +82.4% PANW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.6%/yr -1.0%/yr +37.1%/yr PANW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.0% 61.4% 49.6% FFIV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 63/100 50/100 AKAM

Percentile Scorecard

FFIVAKAMPANW

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisFFIVAKAMPANW
Valuation 69 #39 of 124 87 #6 of 38 42 #72 of 124
Growth 38 #70 of 113 14 #31 of 36 38 #71 of 113
Profitability – 79 #8 of 34 76 #27 of 109
Financial Health – 78 #9 of 38 38 #79 of 127
Shareholder Returns – 55 #10 of 21 55 #30 of 65
Overall – 63 50
  • FFIV ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • AKAM ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • PANW ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodFFIVAKAMPANWSPY
1 month +3.7%-12.6%+7.2% -0.2%
3 months +13.9%-10.9%+25.9% +3.9%
6 months +51.2%+4.4%+121.9% +8.2%
Year to date +80.0%+14.1%+118.1% +12.9%
1 year +58.2%+31.9%+82.4% +12.3%
3 years +206.7%-2.4%+236.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +45.3%-0.8%+49.9% +23.3%
5 years +115.1%-4.9%+383.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year +16.6%-1.0%+37.1% +10.9%
10 years +250.7%+44.7%+1,510.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.4%+3.8%+32.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureFFIVAKAMPANWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.0%61.4%49.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.4%58.4%46.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.081.411.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.660.521.66 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.4%-46.8%-36.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.3%-38.2%-4.3% -1.2%
52-week high $479.83$161.14$419.91 $779.14
52-week low $223.99$71.97$141.67 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleFFIVAKAMPANW
P/E now vs peer median 36.1xmedian 38.6x 35.1xmedian 29.5x 980.0xmedian 38.6x
P/S now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 4.4x 3.3xmedian 4.5x 28.5xmedian 4.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 34.5x 10.6xmedian 23.9x 151.5xmedian 34.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.7xmedian 29.4x 15.0xmedian 15.0x 79.6xmedian 29.4x
P/B now vs peer median 6.5xmedian 3.3x 3.0xmedian 4.3x 11.9xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 1.49median 1.28 -7.03median 0.38 -67.72median 1.28

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsFFIVAKAMPANW
Revenue – $4.32B $11.48B
Gross profit $2.80B $2.48B $8.08B
Operating income $818.22M $455.68M $695.00M
Net income $722.15M $410.97M $307.00M
Free cash flow – $956.10M $4.11B
R&D $621.42M $554.57M $2.55B
EPS (diluted) $12.55 $2.67 $0.40
Cash & equivalents $1.59B $1.48B $2.51B
Total debt – $1.71B –
Shares (diluted) 57.55M 153.69M 764.00M
Enterprise value $20.75B $7.59B $281.35B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricFFIVAKAMPANW
P/E 36.1x 35.1x 980.0x
P/FCF 25.7x 15.0x 79.6x
P/Operating cash flow 27.2x 9.9x 71.9x
P/S 7.5x 3.3x 28.5x
P/B 6.5x 3.0x 11.9x
P/Tangible book 6.5x 3.4x 16.0x
EV/EBITDA – 10.6x 151.5x
EV/EBIT – 27.8x 466.6x
EV/Revenue – 2.9x 28.3x
EV/FCF – 13.2x 78.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.2x 8.7x 71.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.49 -7.03 -67.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFFIVAKAMPANW
Revenue growth (1Y) – 5.9% 24.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 5.7% 18.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.3% 2.9% 19.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 3.8% 17.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.8% -13.2% -44.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 20.1% -9.0% 21.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.3% -3.2% -72.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 22.3% -4.9% -11.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.4% -8.5% -74.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.2% -5.0% -14.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 1.0% 0.0% 22.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.7% 3.4% 17.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 16.6% 18.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 0.5% 16.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFFIVAKAMPANW
Gross margin – 57.5% 70.4%
EBITDA margin – 27.6% 18.6%
Operating margin – 10.5% 6.1%
Pretax margin – 11.5% 4.7%
Net margin – 9.5% 2.7%
FCF margin – 22.1% 35.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 33.5% 39.7%
Return on equity – 8.5% 1.1%
Return on assets – 3.1% 0.6%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – 4.3% 1.9%
Asset turnover – 0.3x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 3.5x 14.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 11.8% 15.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFFIVAKAMPANW
Debt / assets – 11.3% –
Debt / equity – 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -1.4x –
Debt / FCF – 1.8x –
Liabilities / assets – 68.5% 43.3%
Equity / assets 56.7% 31.5% 56.7%
Interest coverage – 13.7x –
Current ratio 1.7x 1.6x 0.9x
Quick ratio – 1.5x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 1.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score – 1.70 9.70

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFFIVAKAMPANW
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – -0.8% -0.1%
Shareholder yield – -0.8% -0.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusFFIVAKAMPANW
Forward P/E 28.3xFY2026 15.8xFY2026 91.9xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $16.24FY2026 $6.31FY2026 $4.37FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +2.7%FY2026 -11.4%FY2026 +13.8%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +5.0% -0.2% +16.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.52BFY2026 $4.28BFY2026 $13.37BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +13.8%FY2026 +1.8%FY2026 +16.5%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +6.4% +27.3% +12.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFFIVAKAMPANW
Held by institutions 96.6% 100.0% 82.1%
Institutions holding 831 801 2,914
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.6% +3.5% +6.6%
Institutions buying 483 430 1,547
Institutions selling 240 282 1,125
Buyers to sellers 2.01 1.52 1.38

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

FFIVAKAMPANW
FFIV 1.00 0.35 0.36
AKAM 0.35 1.00 0.30
PANW 0.36 0.30 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FFIV, AKAM and PANW?

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is the largest by market capitalisation: F5 (FFIV) $20.75B, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) $14.18B, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) $296.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, FFIV, AKAM and PANW?

F5 (FFIV) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (F5 (FFIV) 28.7x, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 34.5x, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 965.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) is cheapest (F5 (FFIV) 28.3x, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 15.8x, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 91.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Akamai Technologies (AKAM) +5.9%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) +24.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) has the highest net margin (Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 9.5%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 2.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Palo Alto Networks (PANW) returned the most: F5 (FFIV) +58.2%, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) +31.9%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) +82.4%. Over five years, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) compounded fastest (F5 (FFIV) +16.6%/yr, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) -1.0%/yr, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) +37.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, F5 (FFIV) has been the steadiest (F5 (FFIV) 35.0%, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 61.4%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 49.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FFIV, AKAM and PANW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.