Palo Alto Networks price target lowered to $220 from $268 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Hamza Fodderwala lowered the firm’s price target on Palo Alto Networks to $220 from $268 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. While stating that cybersecurity remains a top priority in 2023 and "by far the least likely area of IT spend to be cut relative to other categories," Fodderwala argues that the group is now in the early innings of negative estimate revisions that have lagged broader software by about two quarters. Checks "meaningfully downticked" in October and those checks have largely gotten worse since then, said Fodderwala, who is lowering estimates across the firm’s security coverage and downgraded three names in the space. However, Fodderwala is also "doubling down" on a preference for consolidators that can capture more of the security budget in times of greater scrutiny and reiterates Palo Alto as the Top Pick in the group with "strong confidence."