Palo Alto has been named a leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant report for Enterprise Network Firewalls, just as the vendor's fiscal third quarter financial results indicate the company is continuing it's growth streak, albeit at a slower pace.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Palo Alto has been named a leader in Gartner's report.

According to Gartner, “As the first line of defence between external threats and enterprise networks, firewalls need to continually evolve to maintain effectiveness, responding to the continuing evolution in threats as well as changes in enterprise network speed and complexity."

René Bonvanie, CMO of Palo Alto Networks, says, "We're proud to be recognised for the fifth consecutive year as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Firewalls.

"Our prevention-oriented approach to cybersecurity is anchored by our next-generation firewall; it is the cornerstone of our Next-Generation Security Platform, combining network, cloud and endpoint security capabilities to safely enable applications and prevent successful cyber breaches. We're thrilled that Gartner continues to recognise both our ability to execute and completeness of vision in this area."

For the quarter ended April 30, the vendor reported $345.8 million in sales, up 48% from a year earlier; billings of $486.2 million, up 61% from a year earlier; and cash flow from operations $170.1 million, up 95% from a year prior.

March Mark McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of Palo Alto Networks, says these record numbers are the result of an increasing demand for the vendor's Next-Generation Security Platform, which has more than 31,000 new and existing customers.

McLaughlin says, "Security has never been more critical than it is today, and our platform delivers natively integrated and highly automated prevention outcomes, allowing us to continue to significantly outpace the competition as we further establish ourselves as the leader in cybersecurity."

Steffan Tomlinson, chief financial officer of Palo Alto Networks, says, "Robust new customer additions and expansion in existing accounts resulted in market-leading, year over year growth as customers increased their investments in our Next-Generation Security Platform, with particular strength in our subscription services.

"We continue to balance growth and profitability and once again delivered record revenue, billings and cash flow, with cash flow from operations margin of 49% and free cash flow margin of 44%."

However, it's not all record wins for Palo Alto, with the vendor forecasting that in the fiscal fourth quarter of this year the vendor will reach a smaller total revenue in the range of $386 to $390 million, representing year over year growth of between 36% and 37%, and diluted non-GAAP net income per share in the range of $0.48 to $0.50 using 91 to 93 million shares.