Cisco (CSCO) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) both reported earnings after the close and got hit in the after hours for weak guidance. CSCO lowered full year revenue guidance from $57.0-$58.2 billion to $53.8-$55.0 billion – about a 5.6% decrease at the midpoints. It also lowered Non-GAAP EPS guidance from $4.01-$4.08 to $3.87-$3.93. CSCO finished the after hours down 11%.

PANW lowered its full year billings guidance from $10.9-$11.0 billion to $10.7-$10.8 billion. While this might not seem like a big deal, historically PANW almost always marginally increases guidance. And for such an expensive stock – PANW trades for almost 50x forward earnings guidance – growth is paramount and any whiff that it is slowing can hit shares hard. PANW finished the after hours down 6%.

The question is whether these reports have any macro implications…..

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