F5 Reports 13% Quarterly Revenue Growth and Expands Share Buyback Authorization

F5 reported higher fiscal fourth-quarter revenue on October 27, 2026, as sales of application delivery and security products increased, and its board authorized an additional $1.5 billion in share repurchases.

The US-based technology company generated $917 million in revenue for the three months ended September 30, compared with $810 million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, an increase of 13%. Product revenue climbed 23% to $510 million, while services revenue grew more slowly, to $408 million.

Within products, systems revenue rose 29% to $239 million and software revenue grew 19% to $271 million. The different growth rates matter because F5 sells both equipment and software used to deliver and protect applications across data centres, cloud environments and other computing infrastructure.

The company reported quarterly net income under generally accepted accounting principles of $186 million, or $3.23 per diluted share, compared with $190 million, or $3.26 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings, which exclude specified accounting items, were $4.42 per share. That measure should not be confused with the lower reported accounting earnings.

For the full fiscal year, revenue reached $3.417 billion, up approximately 11% from $3.088 billion in fiscal 2025. The company forecast revenue growth of 8% to 9% in fiscal 2027, and adjusted earnings of $18.00 to $18.30 per share. These are forward-looking estimates rather than achieved results.

F5's board approved another $1.5 billion for stock buybacks, adding to approximately $322 million that remained available under its existing authorization. An authorization permits repurchases but does not require the company to spend the entire amount or complete purchases on a fixed timetable.

Management connected demand for its products with businesses' use of hybrid computing environments, APIs and AI-based applications. Those comments describe the company's assessment of customer needs; they do not establish how much of the quarterly growth was attributable to any one technology trend.

Despite beating the analyst expectations cited by financial reporting, F5 shares declined in after-hours trading following the announcement. Market prices can respond to expectations about future growth as well as the reported quarter.