F5 fiscal fourth-quarter revenue rises 13% to $917 million as product revenue grows 23%

F5 (Nasdaq: FFIV) reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $917 million, up 13% from a year earlier, as product revenue rose 23% to $510 million, according to its earnings release dated October 27. The company also authorized an additional $1.5 billion for share repurchases.

What happened

Systems revenue, which covers F5's hardware, rose 29% to $239 million, and software revenue rose 19% to $271 million. Services revenue grew 3% to $408 million. GAAP net income was $186 million, or $3.23 per diluted share, compared with $190 million, or $3.26, a year earlier. Non-GAAP net income was $255 million, or $4.42 per diluted share, compared with $257 million, or $4.39.

GAAP operating margin was 23.1%, down from 25.4% in the year-earlier quarter. The non-GAAP operating margin was 33.7%, compared with 37.0%.

For fiscal 2026, which ended September 30, revenue was $3,417 million, up 11% from $3,088 million. Product revenue rose 19% to $1,793 million. GAAP net income was $722 million, or $12.52 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income was $1,009 million, or $17.49 per diluted share.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer François Locoh-Donou said in the release that the quarter reflected "Nine consecutive quarters of double-digit product revenue growth."

Outlook and buyback

F5 said it is guiding for fiscal 2027 revenue growth of 8% to 9% and non-GAAP earnings of $18.00 to $18.30 per share. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, it guided to revenue of $875 million to $895 million and non-GAAP earnings of $4.25 to $4.37 per diluted share.

The new $1.5 billion repurchase authorization is in addition to the $322 million remaining in the existing program, the company said.

What to watch

F5 said it would host a webcast on the results at 4:30 p.m. ET on October 27, with a replay archived on its investor relations site. The company's first-quarter fiscal 2027 guidance sets the next revenue range to compare against.