The good news is the business' proven profitability, and even more so its operating leverage: since this time last year, sales growth of $1.1 billion, or 16%, has been fully reflected in gross profit.
Operating expenses are still rising, mainly in the sales force and R&D, but operating profit is still up by $307 million, a 77% expansion compared with 2023.
What's more, rising interest rates and skilful management of financial resources enabled the Group to achieve a financial result of $304 million, which alone accounts for almost a third of pre-tax profit.
The bottom line is $1.6 billion - a fifth of sales - spent on stock options this year, and the new share buyback program, which, as last year, is primarily intended to cover the dilution linked to stock options.
Palo Alto's valuation continues to evolve on its all-time highs. To be honest, such levels are hard to sustain. As a result of the mass effect, the pace of growth is set to slow; indeed, management anticipates a slight deceleration by 2025.
And while we're on the subject of security, this is precisely the card that the members of the management team are playing, since at last count they were continuing to sell off their shares on a massive scale.
