FFIV · Q3 2026 Earnings

Bullish

F5, Inc.

Reported July 27, 2026

30-second summary

F5 printed Q3 revenue of $865M (+11% YoY), beating consensus of $834M by 3.7% and the prior $820–840M guide by $25M above the high end, with non-GAAP EPS of $4.73 vs. $3.91–4.03 guided — an 18.3% beat to consensus. Management raised FY26 revenue growth to 9–10% from 7–8% (third consecutive raise, +600bps at midpoint since the incident-era 0–4% guide) and lifted FY26 non-GAAP EPS to $17.21–17.33 from $16.25–16.55. The notable disclosure gap: three separate FY26 margin and capital-return guides (gross margin, operating margin, tax rate, share repurchase) that were reaffirmed last quarter are absent from this quarter's press release.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q3 FY2026

$4.73

+18.3% vs est.

Revenue

Q3 FY2026

$0.86B

+11.0% YoY

+3.7% vs est.

Gross margin

Q3 FY2026

84.2%

Operating margin

Q3 FY2026

35.0%

Key financials

Q3 FY2026

Metric	Q3 FY2026	Q3 FY2025	YoY	Q2 FY2026	QoQ
Revenue	$0.86B	$0.78B	+10.9%	$0.81B	+6.6%
EPS	$4.73	$4.16	+13.7%	$3.90	+21.3%
Gross margin	84.2%	81.0%	+320bps	81.4%	+280bps
Operating margin	35.0%	25.2%	+980bps	22.1%	+1290bps

Guidance

F5 significantly raised FY2026 revenue growth and EPS guidance after beating Q3 on both metrics, with revenue growth now expected at 9–10% YoY versus prior 7–8%, and FY EPS raised 6% midpoint.

Guidance is issued for both next quarter and the full year. Both may appear below.

Actuals vs prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	Actual	Δ	Result
Revenue	Q3 FY2026	$820M to $840M	$865M	+$25M to $45M above guide	Beat
Non-GAAP EPS	Q3 FY2026	$3.91 to $4.03	$4.73	+$0.70 to $0.82 above guide	Beat
Non-GAAP Gross Margin	Q3 FY2026	82.5% to 83.5%	84.2%	+0.7 to +1.7pts above guide	Beat

New guidance

Metric	Period	Guide	YoY
Revenue	Q4 FY2026	$870M to $890M	+7% to +10% YoY
Non-GAAP EPS	Q4 FY2026	$4.14 to $4.26	—

Changes to prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	New guide	Δ	Result
Revenue Growth (YoY)	FY2026	7% to 8%	9% to 10%	+200bps midpoint	Raised
Non-GAAP EPS	FY2026	$16.25 to $16.55	$17.21 to $17.33	+$0.96 to $1.08 (midpoint +$1.02)	Raised
Non-GAAP Gross Margin	FY2026	82.5% to 83.5%	—	—	Raised
Non-GAAP Operating Margin	FY2026	34% to 35%	Withdrawn — no replacement	—	Withdrawn
Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate	FY2026	20% to 21%	Withdrawn — no replacement	—	Withdrawn
Share Repurchase	FY2026	at least 50% of free cash flow	Withdrawn — no replacement	—	Withdrawn

Product revenue

Q3 FY2026

Segment	Q3 FY2026	Q3 FY2025	YoY
Systems	$0.24B	$0.181B	+32.6%
Software	$0.223B	$0.208B	+7.2%
Services	$0.402B	$0.392B	+2.6%

Management tone

No transcript was available for this quarter; tone analysis is derived from the press release and headline framework rather than management commentary. The narrative arc from prior briefs — customer-optimization hangover through incident damage control through AI-driven re-acceleration — now extends to a fourth consecutive raise, but without the prepared-remarks color that would confirm what management is signaling about FY27, memory costs, or the software growth trajectory. The withdrawn FY26 framework items are the loudest tone signal in the release: four simultaneous non-reiterations against a raised revenue and EPS guide is not the pattern of a management team that intends to hold the current margin structure into FY27. Cross-quarter tone comparison will resume when transcript access returns.

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q3 revenue landing at or above the $830M midpoint. Q3 printed $865M — $35M above the midpoint and $25M above the $840M high end. The second-consecutive-raise credibility test cleared with room, and the FY guide could be raised a further 200bps.

Resolved positively

Whether software sustains double-digit YoY growth in Q3. Software grew +7% YoY, a 10-point deceleration from Q2's +17% and below the double-digit threshold. The renewal-timing-vs-expansion question we flagged last quarter is now the central open item — a follow-through of mid-single-digits in Q4 would confirm Q2's +17% as a renewal artifact rather than a run-rate reset.

Resolved negatively

AI revenue contribution sized at the May analyst event. The Q3 press release does not size AI revenue contribution or provide an FY26 AI revenue target. Whether the May analyst event produced such disclosure is unclear without transcript access.

Not resolved

Q4 non-GAAP gross margin guide. No Q4 gross margin guide is disclosed in the press release, and the FY26 gross margin framework (previously 82.5–83.5%) is also absent. The memory-cost pressure Cooper telegraphed for Q4 in the Q2 call cannot be validated against a specific guide.

Not resolved

Disclosure of the multi-year software agreement growth rate. F5 did not separately disclose the multi-year software agreement growth rate in the Q3 press release — a fourth consecutive quarter of non-disclosure. Against a software line that decelerated to +7%, the absence of this leading indicator is now a more material gap.

Not resolved

Services revenue acceleration off the +2% base. Services grew +3% YoY in Q3 — a marginal 1-point acceleration from Q2's +2%. The post-refresh maintenance attach appears to be catching up slowly rather than stepping.

Continue monitoring

What to watch into next quarter

Whether software growth returns above +10% or holds mid-single-digits. Q3's +7% breaks the Q2 recovery narrative. A Q4 print below +5% would force a re-underwrite of the software segment; a print above +10% would confirm Q2 was directional and Q3 was a timing artifact.

Reinstatement (or explicit withdrawal) of the FY26 gross margin, operating margin, tax rate, and share repurchase framework. Four simultaneous non-reiterations against a raise is the loudest disclosure signal in this release. If Q4 also omits these items, treat the framework as structurally reset ahead of FY27 guidance.

Q4 revenue landing above the $880M midpoint. The Q4 guide of $870–890M implies +7–10% YoY off the $810M Q4 FY25 base — a step down from Q3's +11%. A print at or above the high end would set up FY27 initial guidance at or above the raised FY26 range; a print below the low end would confirm H2 deceleration is real.

AI revenue disclosure in the Q4 release. The Q2 disclosure of $50M H1 sales and ~100 customers was the cleanest platform-adoption signal in the coverage period. Non-repetition in Q3 (or in what we can see of it) is a step back; a Q4 sizing would restore the disclosure cadence.

Multi-year software agreement growth rate. Four consecutive quarters of non-disclosure against a now-decelerating software line makes this the single data point most likely to move the FY27 software growth debate.

Memory-cost gross margin impact. Q3 at 84.2% contradicts the Q2 warning; Q4 gross margin will confirm whether the pressure was overstated, absorbed, or simply deferred.

Sources

F5 Q3 FY2026 earnings release, July 27, 2026 — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1048695/000104869526000063/ex991-q326earningsreleasef.htm

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