F5, Inc. (FFIV) had a very good Tuesday evening. The networking and application security company reported first quarter results that handily beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, sending shares climbing in extended trading.

Breaking Down the Quarter

F5 posted earnings of $4.45 per share, demolishing the analyst consensus of $3.65 by 21.88%. Revenue came in at $822.47 million, comfortably ahead of the $758.08 million Wall Street was expecting.

The real story was in the segment details. Systems revenue of $218 million surged 37% year-over-year, though software revenue of $192 million dipped 8% against tough comparisons from the prior year period. Global services revenue of $412 million grew 4% from the year-ago quarter.

Non-GAAP gross profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 reached $689 million, translating to a non-GAAP gross margin of 83.8%.

What Management Is Saying

"Our first quarter revenue of $822 million reflects 7% growth year over year, driven by 11% product revenue growth, including 37% growth in systems revenue," said François Locoh-Donou, F5's CEO.

He added that the strong performance "underscores F5's alignment with durable market demand drivers, including the shift to hybrid multicloud architectures, enterprise adoption of AI and the growing need for converged platforms."

Looking Ahead

Riding the momentum, F5 raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $15.65 to $16.05, well above the $15.11 analyst estimate. The company also boosted its revenue outlook to between $3.24 billion and $3.27 billion, versus the $3.15 billion Street estimate.

F5 shares responded enthusiastically, climbing 13.76% to $307.65 in after-hours trading.