Shares in F5 Inc. rose about 1% in late trading today after the application security firm reported earnings and revenue beats in its fiscal 2025 second quarter, but fell short of expectations with its earnings outlook for its third quarter.

For the quarter that ended on March 31, F5 reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.42, up from $2.91 in the same quarter of the previous year, on revenue of $731 million, up 7.34% year-over-year. Both figures were solidly ahead of the $3.10 per share and revenue of $718.2 million expected by analysts.

Across its offerings, F5 saw systems revenue of $179 million in the quarter, up 27% year-over-year, while software revenue was flat at $158 million. Additionally, global services revenue came in at $394 million, up 3% year-over-year.

Business highlights in the quarter included F5 Inc.’s unveiling of its ADC 3.0 framework, a strategic initiative aimed at addressing the complexities of hybrid, multicloud and AI-driven IT environments, on Feb. 11. The new framework introduced reference architectures and strategic partnerships designed to help enterprises securely deploy and manage modern applications in the era of artificial intelligence.

Later in February, the company launched the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform, pitched as the industry’s first converged application delivery and security platform for hybrid and multicloud infrastructures. The platform integrates high-performance load balancing and traffic management with advanced application and API security capabilities, aiming to reduce complexity, simplify operations and strengthen security for every application.

“F5 alleviates the high costs, crushing complexity and escalating cyber risks IT teams face in an AI-driven hybrid multicloud world,” Chief Executive François Locoh-Donou said in the company’s earnings release. “With the recently introduced F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform, we are enabling consistent policies, full visibility and AI-driven insights all from a single platform that is flexible to deploy.

“We are delivering new capabilities that give CISOs the visibility, compliance and protection they need to deliver and secure any app, any API, anywhere,” added Locoh-Donou.

Looking forward, F5 expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.41 to $3.53 per share on revenue of $740 million to $760 million. The earnings per share forecast fell short of the $3.56 expected by analysts, but the revenue outlook was ahead at the midpoint of an expected $740 million.

The company didn’t provide full-year outlook figures but instead said that it was increasing its revenue guidance to a range of 6.5% to 7.5% growth over fiscal year 2024 and adjusted earnings growth of 8% to 10%.

Photo: F5