Can Prisma Browser Adoption Accelerate PANW's SASE Growth?

Palo Alto Networks PANW is seeing strong growth in its Secured Access Service Edge (SASE) business, and Prisma Browser is becoming a bigger part of that story. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Palo Alto Networks' SASE business had a strong quarter. SASE ARR grew 40% year over year and crossed $1.5 billion. Here, demand is being driven by enterprises that want a more complete and integrated security solution across users, networks and cloud environments.

The Prisma browser is a key driver behind PANW's SASE growth. PANW ended the second quarter with more than 1,500 Prisma Browser customers and over nine million browser licenses sold to date. In the second quarter alone, the company added around two million new licenses. Prisma browser remains an important control point where users access applications and data. As more work is done through browsers, securing this layer has become necessary for enterprises.

SASE growth is also being supported by large enterprise wins. A global automotive company signed a security transformation deal worth more than $50 million. The deal included $30 million for SASE and $20 million for XSIAM to run its global security operations center. A global technology supplier also signed a transformation deal worth more than $40 million that included XSIAM and expanded SASE adoption.

Nowadays, enterprises want a single system that can provide consistent security across office, remote and mobile environments. Here, older approaches that extend existing security tools into the browser are not enough. PANW’s secure browser is designed to act as a native security layer, which allows real-time control and better visibility. This is helping the company win and expand SASE deployments. The Prisma browser is contributing to this shift and is supporting continued growth in PANW’s SASE business.

How Competitors Fare Against PANW

Zscaler ZS and Fortinet FTNT are key rivals to Palo Alto Networks in the SASE space.

Zscaler is also expanding into browser-based security. ZS offers cloud-native secure access through its ZIA and ZPA platforms. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, Zscaler saw continued demand from customers replacing legacy VPNs with its zero-trust architecture.

Fortinet is growing fast, driven by the rising adoption of its FortiSASE platform. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Fortinet’s Unified SASE ARR grew 11% year over year. Fortinet stands out by delivering all core SASE capabilities within a single operating system. Fortinet also offers Sovereign SASE, a tailored solution for large enterprises and service providers that require full on-premises or in-country control of their data.

PANW’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Palo Alto Networks have lost 22.3% in the past six months compared with the Zacks Security industry’s decline of 17.9%.

PANW 6-month Price Return Performance

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From a valuation standpoint, Palo Alto Networks trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 10.19X compared with the industry’s average of 10.45X.

PANW Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 11.4% and 8.3%, respectively. Estimates for fiscal 2026 and 2027 have both been revised down a penny and 4 cents, respectively, over the past seven days.

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Palo Alto Networks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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