The proposed $25 billion acquisition reflects the growing importance of identity management — and would fill a crucial gap in the Palo Alto Networks portfolio.

Palo Alto Networks is the world's largest cybersecurity vendor, but it has to innovate to keep the top spot. The company is weaving AI into its products to automate threat detection and incident response.

Analysts expect the Santa Clara, California-based company to report quarterly earnings at 89 cents per share, up from 75 cents per share in the year-ago period. Palo Alto Networks projects to report quarterly revenue at $2.5 billion, compared to $2.19 billion a year earlier, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Palo Alto Networks acquires CyberArk for $25B, creating an $8B+ security giant. Analysis of market impact, integration challenges, and impact to enterprise security.

Shares of cybersecurity provider Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) jumped 3.3% in the pre-market session after it received rating upgrades from two prominent Wall Street analysts, Piper Sandler and Deutsche Bank.

The cybersecurity giant is getting into identity security with its acquisition of CyberArk, which is one of the biggest cybersecurity deals of the year so far.

Owens of Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto stock to Overweight from Neutral and lifted his price target to $225 from $200 in a research note. The company’s acquisition of CyberArk Software and its early success in getting customers to consolidate security solutions on its platform have Owens feeling bullish.