KabuDo

NASDAQ: FFIV · Communications Equipment

F5, Inc.

F5 sells application delivery and security products — BIG-IP, NGINX and F5 Distributed Cloud Services — as hardware systems, software (perpetual, subscription and usage-based) and SaaS, plus maintenance and support services. Fiscal 2025 (year ended September 30, 2025) revenue was $3,088 million, of which product revenue was $1,509 million and services $1,579 million; net income was $692 million. In October 2025 it disclosed that a nation-state threat actor had long-term access to its systems and exfiltrated portions of BIG-IP source code, which led to a securities class action. It has no debt and pays no dividend, returning cash through buybacks.

Last updated

Analysis last edited: October 24, 2026 · Financial data fetched: October 24, 2026 09:45 (SEC EDGAR) · Source 10-K filed: November 25, 2025

Built on10-K FY2025 · filed 2025-11-2510-Q (quarter ended 2026-06-30) · filed 2026-08-06Proxy statement (2026)

Next update expectedAfter FY2026’s 10-K is filed (roughly 60–90 days after fiscal year end (sooner for larger filers)), financials and analysis will be refreshed.

01

At a glanceFrom SEC data

Eight headline measures, each placed among the companies covered on this site.

Revenue growth
5.6%

Higher than 29% of 372 non-financial companies

Average yearly growth over the years shown

Operating margin
24.8%

Higher than 70% of 311 non-financial companies

Latest fiscal year (FY2025)

ROIC minus WACC
+9.3 pts

Higher than 70% of 311 non-financial companies

Return on capital above (or below) its estimated cost

Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-1.6x

Higher than 6% of 304 non-financial companies

Below 0 means more cash than debt

Cash conversion
1.37x

Higher than 39% of 349 non-financial companies

Operating cash flow ÷ net income

Dividend raises
—

Years the dividend per share rose, of the last 5

P/E today
26.7x

Latest close 2026-11-04; trailing 12 months to 2026-06-30

Beta
0.85

Above 1 = moves more than the market

Each marker shows where this company sits among the non-financial companies covered on this site, not all listed companies (left = lowest, right = highest). A high position is not automatically good — for net debt ÷ EBITDA, higher means more debt. Details and formulas are in the sections below and in How to read this.

02

Valuation todayFrom SEC data

Price-based measures at the latest close, next to the same measures at the last fiscal year-end.

Share price$335.92close on 2026-11-04

Market cap$19.38B

P/E today
26.7x

At FY2025 year-end: 27.4x

Earnings: trailing 12 months to 2026-06-30

P/B today
5.4x

At FY2025 year-end: 5.2x

Book value at FY2025 year-end

EV/EBITDA today
21.0x

At FY2025 year-end: 20.2x

EBITDA for FY2025

FCF yield today
4.7%

At FY2025 year-end: 4.9%

Free cash flow for FY2025

Dividend yield today
—

Dividends per share for FY2025

“Today” uses the latest closing price (2026-11-04, Yahoo Finance daily closing prices) and shares outstanding at the last fiscal year-end. The rest of this page — including the financial table and ROIC vs. WACC — uses fiscal year-end prices. These are reference figures, not a judgment of whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

03

What changed since last earningsFrom SEC data

The latest reported quarter against the same quarter a year earlier, the balance sheet against the previous quarter-end, and what management said in its latest earnings release.

Quarter ended Jun 30, 2026.

  • Revenue↑ +10.9%$780M → $865M (vs. a year earlier)
  • Operating margin↓ −0.5 pts25.2% → 24.7% (vs. a year earlier)
  • Net income↑ +9.6%$190M → $208M (vs. a year earlier)
  • Diluted EPS↑ +11.4%$3.25 → $3.62 (vs. a year earlier)
  • Cash↑ +11.3%$1.44B → $1.61B (vs. previous quarter-end)

Source: Form 10-Q ↗ (SEC XBRL). Long-term debt is the tagged long-term debt figure and leaves out short-term borrowings.

From the earnings release of Oct 27, 2026.

Management outlook • Issued

Expects fiscal 2027 non-GAAP EPS of $18.00–$18.30. Source sentence
The Company expects fiscal year 2027 non-GAAP earnings per share in a range of $18.00 to $18.30.

Key changes

  • Guides fiscal 2027 revenue growth of 8%–9%. Source sentence
    F5 updated its outlook for its fiscal year 2027, guiding for revenue growth of 8% to 9%.
  • Board added $1.5B of share repurchases. Source sentence
    Board Authorizes Additional $1.5 Billion for Share Repurchases
  • Systems revenue $239M, up 29%. Source sentence
    Systems revenue of $239 million grew 29% from the year-ago period while software revenue of $271 million grew 19%.

Written by AI. A line appears only if its figures and direction match the quoted sentence, which an automatic check confirms. Companies' outlooks are their own and may not be met. Read the release ↗

04

Company profileFrom SEC dataShow

Legal name
F5, INC.
Headquarters
SEATTLE, WA
Incorporated in
Washington
Fiscal year end
09/30
Exchange & ticker
NASDAQ: FFIV
Industry
Communications Equipment
CIK
1048695

Workforce (as of FY2025 year-end)

  • Employees

    6,578

Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) cover page and business description

05

Earnings calendarFrom SEC dataShow

When the company reports each quarter: the quarter-end date, the day results were released, and when the 10-Q or 10-K was filed.

Next report

Q1 FY2027

Quarter end: December 2026. In past years, Q1 results were released 27–29 days after quarter end (Jan 27, 2026; Jan 28, 2025; Jan 29, 2024). No date has been announced in the sources this site uses.

Reporting pattern

  • Fiscal year ends around September 30.
  • Reports four times a year: three quarterly reports (10-Q) and an annual report (10-K) for Q4.
  • Earnings releases came 24–30 days after quarter end over the last 13 quarters.
QuarterQuarter endedEarnings release (8-K)Report filed (10-Q / 10-K)
Q4 FY2026—Oct 27, 2026Not yet filed
Q3 FY2026Jun 30, 2026Jul 27, 2026 (+27 days)Aug 6, 2026 10-Q (+37 days)
Q2 FY2026Mar 31, 2026Apr 28, 2026 (+28 days)May 5, 2026 10-Q (+35 days)
Q1 FY2026Dec 31, 2025Jan 27, 2026 (+27 days)Feb 5, 2026 10-Q (+36 days)
Q4 FY2025Sep 30, 2025Oct 27, 2025 (+27 days)Nov 25, 2025 10-K (+56 days)
Q3 FY2025Jun 30, 2025Jul 30, 2025 (+30 days)Aug 6, 2025 10-Q (+37 days)
Q2 FY2025Mar 31, 2025Apr 28, 2025 (+28 days)May 6, 2025 10-Q (+36 days)
Q1 FY2025Dec 31, 2024Jan 28, 2025 (+28 days)Feb 7, 2025 10-Q (+38 days)
Q4 FY2024Sep 30, 2024Oct 28, 2024 (+28 days)Nov 18, 2024 10-K (+49 days)
Q3 FY2024Jun 30, 2024Jul 29, 2024 (+29 days)Aug 6, 2024 10-Q (+37 days)
Q2 FY2024Mar 31, 2024Apr 29, 2024 (+29 days)May 6, 2024 10-Q (+36 days)
Q1 FY2024Dec 31, 2023Jan 29, 2024 (+29 days)Feb 5, 2024 10-Q (+36 days)
Q4 FY2023Sep 30, 2023Oct 24, 2023 (+24 days)Nov 14, 2023 10-K (+45 days)

Source: SEC EDGAR filing history. Release dates are the dates the earnings release was furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K (Item 2.02), which is normally the day results are announced. For a quarter whose 10-Q or 10-K isn’t filed yet, the date is the latest Item 2.02 8-K since the previous report, which may be a preliminary or other results-related update. Fiscal years are labeled by the calendar year in which they end.

06

Flagship products & servicesSite analysis

  • Product

    BIG-IP

    Application delivery and security for on-premises and cloud; competes with Citrix and Broadcom.

  • Product

    NGINX

    Lightweight load balancing and Kubernetes traffic management; competes with AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Envoy and HAProxy.

  • Product

    F5 Distributed Cloud Services

    SaaS application and API security and multicloud networking.

  • Product

    Application security

    Web application firewall, bot and DDoS mitigation, API protection, carrier-grade firewall and access policy management.

  • Services

    Maintenance and support

    Support, consulting and training on installed products.

From the Form 10-K, FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30.

U.S. and worldwide share of flagship products/services

F5 gives no market share or market ranking in its 10-K or 10-Q.

Reviewed: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30) · Form 10-Q (quarter ended 2026-06-30)

07

Recent strategic focusSite analysis

Recent developments.

  1. Nine months to June 2026

    Revenue $2,499M versus $2,278M; product revenue $1,284M versus $1,095M; net income $536M versus $502M.

    Source: Form 10-Q (quarter ended 2026-06-30)

  2. Cyber Incident

    On August 9, 2025 F5 learned a nation-state actor had persistent access to its BIG-IP development environment; files with portions of BIG-IP source code were exfiltrated. Disclosed October 15, 2025.

    Source: Form 8-K (2025-10-15) — Item 1.05 material cybersecurity incident

  3. Buybacks

    Repurchased $501M of stock in the nine months to June 2026; F5 pays no dividend.

    Source: Form 10-Q (quarter ended 2026-06-30)

Capex ÷ D&A (FY2025)

0.47x

Below depreciation — investment is being pared back

formulacapital expenditures ÷ depreciation & amortization

e.g.$43M ÷ $92M = 0.47x

termsCapital expenditures (capex) · Depreciation & amortization (D&A)

R&D-to-revenue ratio (FY2025)

17.5%

formularesearch & development expense ÷ revenue × 100

e.g.$540M ÷ $3,088M × 100 = 17.5%

termsResearch & development (R&D) · Revenue (net sales)

M&A spend (6-year total)

$1.67B

Latest year: $171M

Cash-flow-statement spending on acquisitions, net of cash acquired

Where the money goes, over time

Unit: $M. Capex went from $60M in FY2020 to $43M in FY2025

  • Capex
  • R&D
  • M&A spend

formulacapital expenditures ÷ depreciation & amortization

termsCapital expenditures (capex) · Depreciation & amortization (D&A)

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

08

Key figures at a glanceFrom SEC data

FY2020–FY2025, 6 years.

Revenue (FY2025)

$3.09B

As reported in the 10-K

Revenue CAGR (5 years)

+5.6%▲favorable

formula(last-period revenue ÷ first-period revenue) ^ (1 ÷ years) − 1

e.g.($3,088M ÷ $2,351M) ^ (1÷5) − 1 = 5.6%

termsCAGR · ^ (exponent) · Revenue (net sales)

Operating margin (FY2025)

24.8%▲favorable

+8.1pt vs. 5 years ago

formulaoperating income ÷ revenue × 100

e.g.$766M ÷ $3,088M × 100 = 24.8%

termsOperating income · Revenue (net sales)

ROE (FY2025)

20.6%▲favorable

6-year average: 16.0%

As reported in the 10-K

P/B (FY2025 end)

5.19x

formulafiscal year-end closing price ÷ book value per share

e.g.$323.19 ÷ $62.27 = 5.19x

termsP/B · BVPS

Period-end (fiscal year-end) value, not today's P/B

EV/EBITDA (FY2025 end)

20.2x

formula(market cap + interest-bearing debt − cash and equivalents) ÷ (operating income + depreciation & amortization)

e.g.($18,643M + $0M − $1,344M) ÷ ($766M + $92M) = 20.2x

termsEV/EBITDA · Market capitalization · Interest-bearing debt · EBITDA · Depreciation & amortization (D&A)

Period-end (fiscal year-end) value, not today's multiple

  • ▲

    Revenue grew +5.6% a year over 5 years (strong growth)

    From $2.35B in FY2020 to $3.09B in FY2025. The annualized rate (CAGR) makes it possible to compare growth pace across companies of different sizes.

  • ▲

    Operating margin improved: 16.7% → 24.8%

    How much operating profit is left per $100 of revenue. It moved +8.1 points over 5 years — pricing power, cost control, and product mix all show up here.

  • ▲

    Equity ratio is 56.8% (a high level of financial stability)

    The share of total assets funded by equity rather than debt. 50%+ is often read as low bankruptcy risk, though the right level varies by industry (real estate and leasing run lower, for instance).

  • ▲

    Free cash flow was positive in 6 of 6 years

    Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures: the cash left over after funding the business’s own investment, available for dividends, buybacks, acquisitions, or debt paydown. A negative year can mean heavy investment, or weak core earnings — worth distinguishing.

  • ▲

    ROE averaged 16.0% over 6 years (latest: 20.6%)

    How much profit was generated on shareholders’ equity. Roughly 10%+ is often cited as solid for a U.S. company, though this varies a lot by industry and capital intensity.

09

Business modelSite analysis

Sells systems, software and SaaS mainly through distributors and resellers, then earns recurring maintenance and support revenue on the installed products.

How money and goods flow at F5, Inc.
  1. 01 what it draws on

    Inputs & resources

    • 6,578 employees (Sep 30, 2025)
    • Outsourced manufacturing of systems
    • R&D expense of $457M in the nine months to June 2026
  2. 02 what it does

    Activities

    • BIG-IP application delivery and security
    • NGINX for cloud-native and Kubernetes traffic
    • F5 Distributed Cloud Services (SaaS)
  3. 03 who it serves

    Customers

    • Enterprises and service providers worldwide
    • Two distributors each over 15% of revenue
  4. 04 how money comes in

    How it earns

    • Systems $706M
    • Software $803M
    • Services $1,579M (fiscal 2025)

How the business makes money

  • Remaining performance obligations were $2.0 billion at Sep 30, 2025, 60.7% due within 12 months.
  • Systems revenue rose 31% in fiscal 2025 after falling in fiscal 2024.
  • Acquired AI-security provider CalypsoAI for $145.2 million in September 2025.

Government & regulation around the business

Non-market factors from the company’s filings: what governments and regulators fund, buy, set, approve or restrict, and which part of the flow above each one touches.

F5 sells to governments and is subject to export and import controls.

  • Government as customer

    Government customers

    A portion of revenue comes from U.S. and foreign government entities.

    Supports and constrainsTouches: Customers · How it earns

    Source: Form 10-K (FY2025)

  • Trade & export rules

    Export controls, sanctions and tariffs

    Subject to export and import controls that could create liability or impair competitiveness.

    Constrains the businessTouches: Customers

    Source: Form 10-K (FY2025)

Revenue by segment (FY2025)

Unit: $M — bar length = revenue, (%) = share of total company revenue

  • Services

    1,579.4 (51%)
  • Software

    803.1 (26%)
  • Systems

    705.6 (23%)

Source: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30) — Note 15, Segment Information F5 has one reportable segment; shown by revenue type. Total net revenues $3,088.1M.

10

Where it earnsSite analysis

Many U.S.-listed companies earn most of their revenue outside the U.S. — this breaks down revenue by country/region so it's clear where the business actually makes its money.

Largest market (FY2025)

United States — 53% of revenue

Revenue by country / region (FY2025)

Unit: $M — bar length = revenue, (%) = share of total company revenue

  • United States

    1,631.2 (53%)
  • Other Americas

    92.9 (3%)
  • EMEA

    827.2 (27%)
  • APAC

    536.8 (17%)

Source: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30) — Note 15, Segment Information Total $3,088.1M.

11

Contract structureSite analysisShow

Short-term or spot sales carry different earnings quality than long-term or auto-renewing contracts — this shows how the company actually contracts with its customers.

12

Alliances & capital tiesSite analysisShow

Equity stakes, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships disclosed across the 10-K, 8-Ks, and proxy statement.

13

Customers & suppliersSite analysis

Who the company sells to and buys from. Companies rarely name either, so named counterparties come only from the company's own filings and press releases; otherwise this lists the concentration figures the 10-K discloses.

Customers

Enterprises, service providers and government customers, reached mainly through distributors.

Named by the company

End customers are not named; Customers A and B are unnamed distributors.

What the filings disclose

Suppliers

Contract manufacturers and component suppliers.

Named by the company

No supplier is named.

14

Competitors & peersSite analysis

Competitors the 10-K names, and the peer group the company itself chose in its proxy statement. Nothing here is this site's own pick.

F5 names competitors by product line in its 10-K.

Competitors named in the 10-K

Peer group the company chose

Fiscal 2025 compensation peer group (21 companies), from the proxy statement. Peers are companies the board considers comparable — for example when setting executive pay — not necessarily direct competitors.

Chosen with Compensia for financial comparability and industry focus.

Source: Proxy statement (2026)

Company names link to this site’s analysis where one exists; “site ↗” opens the company’s own website.

15

Six years of financialsFrom SEC data

Each chart's axis holds a single unit (never mixing dollars, %, and $/share). The table's per-period header links to the filing the numbers came from.

Revenue over time

Unit: $M

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

Profit over time (operating → net)

Unit: $M

  • Operating income
  • Pretax income
  • Net income

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

Margins over time

Unit: %

  • Operating margin
  • Net margin

formulaoperating income ÷ revenue × 100

termsOperating income · Revenue (net sales)

formulanet income attributable to the company ÷ revenue × 100

termsNet income (attributable to the company)

Cash flow over time

Unit: $M (below zero = cash went out)

  • Operating CF
  • Investing CF
  • Free CF

formulacash flow from operations − capital expenditures

termsFree cash flow (FCF) · Cash flow from operations (operating CF) · Capital expenditures (capex)

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

Financial stability & capital efficiency

Unit: %

  • Equity ratio
  • ROE

formulatotal equity ÷ total assets × 100 (as reported in the 10-K)

termsStockholders’ equity · Total assets

formulanet income ÷ average equity (beginning + ending, ÷2) × 100 (as reported in the 10-K)

termsNet income (attributable to the company) · Stockholders’ equity

Earnings per share (EPS) and dividend per share

Unit: $

  • EPS

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

Line itemFY202010-K on EDGAR ↗FY202110-K on EDGAR ↗FY202210-K on EDGAR ↗FY202310-K on EDGAR ↗FY202410-K on EDGAR ↗FY202510-K on EDGAR ↗
Income statement ($M)
Revenue2,3512,6032,6962,8132,8163,088
Operating income392394404473659766
Pretax income396387385486695808
Net income (attributable)307331322395567692
Revenue growthcalc(this year’s revenue − last year’s revenue) ÷ last year’s revenue × 100—10.7%3.6%4.4%0.1%9.7%
Operating margincalcoperating income ÷ revenue × 10016.7%15.1%15.0%16.8%23.4%24.8%
Net margincalcnet income attributable to the company ÷ revenue × 10013.1%12.7%12.0%14.0%20.1%22.4%
Balance sheet ($M)
Total assets4,6784,9975,2765,2485,6136,319
Total equity2,2322,3602,4692,8003,1293,592
Interest-bearing debtSum of short- and long-term borrowings, notes/bonds payable388369350000
Equity ratio47.7%47.2%46.8%53.4%55.8%56.8%
ROE13.8%14.4%13.3%15.0%19.1%20.6%
Cash flow ($M)
Operating CF661645443653792950
Investing CF-747-44521836-59-219
Financing CF337-468-477-653-457-465
Free cash flowcalccash flow from operations − capital expenditures601615409599762906
Cash and equivalents8505817587971,0751,344
Per share & other
EPS ($)5.015.345.276.559.5511.80
BVPS ($)36.5438.9141.2547.3053.8762.27
P/E (x)24.537.227.524.623.127.4
EV/EBITDA (x)calc(market cap + interest-bearing debt − cash and equivalents) ÷ (operating income + depreciation & amortization)14.423.215.914.915.320.2
P/B (x)calcfiscal year-end closing price ÷ book value per share3.365.113.513.414.095.19

P/B and EV/EBITDA use each period’s period-end (fiscal year-end) figures, not the current share price. Figures without a "calc" tag are as reported in the Form 10-K (the consolidated financial statements and, for older years, earlier 10-Ks), pulled automatically from SEC EDGAR. Where a later filing restated a prior period, the restated figure is used.

Last 8 quarters

Three-month figures from 10-Q filings. Change is versus the same quarter a year earlier. Newest quarter on top.

Quarter endedRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeDiluted EPS
2026-06-30$865M+10.9%$213M+8.6%$208M+9.6%$3.62
2026-03-31$812M+11.0%$179M+12.7%$148M+1.5%$2.58
2025-12-31$822M+7.3%$214M+4.4%$180M+8.2%$3.10
2025-09-30 †$810M+8.5%$206M+7.7%$190M+15.2%—
2025-06-30$780M$196M$190M$3.25
2025-03-31$731M$159M$146M$2.48
2024-12-31$766M$205M$166M$2.82
2024-09-30 †$747M$191M$165M—

† Fourth quarter = the 10-K’s annual figure minus the first three quarters; quarterly EPS isn’t derived this way because share counts change during the year.

16

Is ROIC above WACC?From SEC data

ROIC (the return on money invested in the business) above WACC (the cost of raising that money) means the company is creating value. WACC is an estimate, so its assumptions can be adjusted below.

ROIC (FY2025)

18.9%

formulaoperating income × (1 − tax rate) ÷ invested capital × 100 *invested capital = interest-bearing debt + total equity (average of beginning/ending)

e.g.$766M × (1 − 17%) ÷ $3,361M × 100 = 18.9%

termsOperating income · Effective tax rate · Invested capital · Interest-bearing debt · Total equity

WACC (this site’s estimate)

9.63%

formulacost of equity × equity weight + cost of debt × (1 − tax rate) × debt weight

e.g.Equity weight: $18.64B ÷ ($18.64B + $0) = 100.0%

e.g.Debt weight: $0 ÷ ($18.64B + $0) = 0.0%

e.g.WACC: 9.6% × 100.0% + 5.0% × (1 − 17%) × 0.0% = 9.63%

termsCost of equity · Equity weight (E/(D+E)) · Cost of debt · (1 − tax rate) · Debt weight (D/(D+E)) · Market capitalization

ROIC − WACC

+9.3pt▲favorable

Earning more than the cost of capital (ROIC > WACC in 6 of 6 years)

formulaROIC − WACC (positive means the business earns more than its cost of capital)

termsROIC · WACC

How firm is this? With the equity risk premium ±1 point and beta ±0.2, WACC runs 7.9%–11.8% and ROIC − WACC runs +7.1 to +11.0 points. The sign holds across this range. This describes the latest year and does not predict future value creation.

WACC 9.63% is this site’s estimate under the assumptions below (not a figure the company has published)

Risk-free rate
4.95% (10-year Treasury, 2026-11-03)
β
0.85 (price-derived adjusted beta)
Equity risk premium
5.5%
Cost of equity
9.63%
Cost of debt
4.95% (no debt on record, using the risk-free rate)
Tax rate
17% (effective rate, FY2023–FY2025)
Capital structure (equity : debt)
100% : 0%
→ Change assumptions and recalculate

ROIC over time, vs. WACC

Unit: % — bars = each period's ROIC, horizontal line = latest WACC. Bars above the line are green, below are red

  • ROIC (above WACC)
  • ROIC (below WACC)
  • WACC 9.63%

formulaoperating income × (1 − tax rate) ÷ invested capital × 100 *invested capital = interest-bearing debt + total equity (average of beginning/ending)

termsOperating income · Effective tax rate · Invested capital · Interest-bearing debt · Total equity

formulacost of equity × equity weight + cost of debt × (1 − tax rate) × debt weight

termsCost of equity · Equity weight (E/(D+E)) · Cost of debt · (1 − tax rate) · Debt weight (D/(D+E)) · Market capitalization

Try different WACC assumptions

β and the equity risk premium are estimates with a real range of plausible values — move the sliders to check whether ROIC > WACC still holds. The risk-free rate starts at the 10-year Treasury yield on 2026-11-03 (U.S. Treasury).

Initial β: 0.85 (price-derived adjusted beta. Raw β 0.77, R² 0.15, 130 weeks)

formula0.67 × β + 0.33 (β = the slope of weekly stock returns regressed on weekly market returns)

e.g.0.67 × 0.770 + 0.33 = 0.846

termsβ (beta)

Period 2024-05-10–2026-11-04, using S&P 500 ETF (SPY) as the market proxy. Source: Yahoo Finance price history.

Cost of equity9.63%

formularisk-free rate + β × equity risk premium

e.g.5.0% + 0.85 × 5.5% = 9.6%

termsCAPM · Risk-free rate · β (beta) · Equity risk premium (market risk premium)

Market value of equity$18.64B

formulafiscal year-end closing price × shares outstanding (= market cap)

termsMarket capitalization · Market value of equity

Interest-bearing debt$0
Cost of debt *no debt on record, using the risk-free rate instead4.95%

formulainterest expense ÷ interest-bearing debt × 100 (clamped to 0–10%; falls back to the risk-free rate if there’s no debt)

termsInterest-bearing debt · Risk-free rate

Capital structure (equity weight : debt weight)100% : 0%

17

What the price implies (DCF)From SEC data

A company's value can be written as its free cash flow divided by (cost of capital − perpetual growth). Working that backwards from the market's valuation shows how much growth the share price assumed — compared here with the company's actual past growth.

Growth the price implies (price on 2026-11-04)

4.6%

Perpetual FCF growth: g = r − FCF ÷ EV = 9.6% − 5.0%

Past FCF growth (FY2020–FY2025)

+8.6%

Compound annual rate, 5 years

Past revenue growth (FY2020–FY2025)

+5.6%

Compound annual rate, 5 years

Inputs (FY2025): free cash flow $906M (operating CF − capex); enterprise value $18.03B = market cap $19.38B (latest close, 2026-11-04) + debt $0 − cash and short-term investments $1.34B; r = WACC of 9.6% using this page’s default assumptions (β 0.85, risk-free 5.0%, market premium 5.5%).

Three WACC scenarios

The same calculation under cautious, base and optimistic cost-of-capital assumptions (risk-free rate fixed at the 10-year Treasury yield). Pick one to load it into the sliders below.

Try your own assumptions

V = FCF ÷ (r − g). It starts at the implied growth rate, where the theoretical value equals today’s enterprise value.

Theoretical enterprise value

$18.13B

FCF $906M ÷ (9.6% − 4.6%)

Theoretical ÷ actual enterprise value

1.01x

Above 1x: these assumptions value the business above the market did

How sensitive the answer is

Theoretical ÷ actual enterprise value for each combination of r and g.

g \ r7.6%8.6%9.6%10.6%11.6%
0%0.66x0.58x0.52x0.47x0.43x
2%0.90x0.76x0.66x0.58x0.52x
4%1.40x1.09x0.90x0.76x0.66x
6%3.14x1.93x1.40x1.09x0.90x
8%—8.38x3.14x1.93x1.40x

A simplified model for seeing what the market price assumes, not a forecast or a target price. It treats free cash flow as growing at one constant rate forever; the result swings widely with small changes in r and g, and is undefined when g reaches r. Free cash flow here is operating cash flow minus capex, which is after interest — a full DCF of enterprise value would use cash flow before interest. Market cap uses the latest close (2026-11-04) × shares at fiscal year-end; free cash flow and WACC inputs are from the latest fiscal year.

18

Earnings qualityFrom SEC dataShow

The same reported profit can mean different things depending on whether it's backed by cash, driven by the core business, or the result of a one-off item. Four checks below.

  • ✓

    Operating CF ÷ net income: averages 1.65x

    Profit is backed by cash coming in.

  • ✓

    Accrual ratio (latest): -4.3%

    A small share of profit rests on accounting estimates.

  • ✓

    Core-earnings share (operating income ÷ pretax income): 95%

    Most profit comes from core operations.

  • ✓

    Days sales outstanding: 46 → 47 days

    No major slowdown in collecting on sales.

Operating CF vs. net income

Unit: $M — operating CF above net income means profit is backed by cash

  • Operating CF
  • Net income

formulacash flow from operations ÷ net income attributable to the company

termsCash flow from operations (operating CF) · Net income (attributable to the company)

formula(net income − operating CF) ÷ average total assets × 100

termsNet income (attributable to the company) · Cash flow from operations (operating CF) · Total assets

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

Profit bridge (FY2025)

Unit: $M — what moved profit from operating income to net income

  • Profit (each stage)
  • Pushed profit up
  • Pushed profit down

formulaoperating income ÷ income before income taxes × 100

termsOperating income · Income before income taxes (pretax income)

Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2025-11-25

Receivables & inventory days

Unit: days — days grow when receivables or inventory build up faster than sales

  • Days sales outstanding
  • Days inventory outstanding

formulaaverage receivables (opening + closing ÷ 2) ÷ revenue × 365

termsAccounts receivable · Revenue (net sales)

formulaaverage inventory (opening + closing ÷ 2) ÷ cost of revenue × 365

termsInventory · Cost of revenue (COGS)

Worked examples (latest period)

formulacash flow from operations ÷ net income attributable to the company

e.g.$950M ÷ $692M = 1.37x

termsCash flow from operations (operating CF) · Net income (attributable to the company)

formulaoperating income ÷ income before income taxes × 100

e.g.$766M ÷ $808M × 100 = 95%

termsOperating income · Income before income taxes (pretax income)

formulaaverage receivables (opening + closing ÷ 2) ÷ revenue × 365

e.g.($389M + $414M) ÷ 2 ÷ $3,088M × 365 = 47 days

termsAccounts receivable · Revenue (net sales)

formulaaverage inventory (opening + closing ÷ 2) ÷ cost of revenue × 365

e.g.($76M + $77M) ÷ 2 ÷ $574M × 365 = 49 days

termsInventory · Cost of revenue (COGS)

19

Who holds the sharesFrom SEC dataShow

How much of the stock large institutional investors report owning on SEC Form 13F, how much the directors and executive officers hold (and how much of the vote they control), and roughly how much is left for individual investors. Shown next to beta so the holder mix can be read alongside how much the stock swings.

Institutions, insiders and everyone else, 13F holdings as of 2026-06-30

“Everyone else” is what remains after shares reported on Form 13F and shares held by directors and executive officers: mostly individual investors, plus non-insider families or foundations and smaller or foreign institutions. The figures have different dates and 13F reports count some shares twice — read it as an approximate split.

Held by 13F filers
96.6%
Directors & officers (shares)
<1%
Everyone else (est.)
3.4%

individuals and other non-13F holders

Directors & officers (voting power)
<1%

no separate voting figure; shown as shares

Institutional-ownership rank
101 of 416

1 = most institutional; 24% of covered companies have more

Beta (adjusted)
0.85

above 1 = swings more than the market

  • 54.7M shares reported by 830 13F filers ÷ 56.6M shares outstanding on 2026-08-03. Option positions are excluded.
  • Directors and executive officers as a group, from the proxy statement’s beneficial-ownership table; includes shares they can acquire within 60 days.
  • A large “everyone else” share can still reflect a family, trust or foundation stake held outside the board; check the proxy statement’s 5% holders.

Sources: SEC Form 13F data set (holdings as of 2026-06-30) · Form DEF 14A filed 2026-01-26 (beneficial ownership table) · Form 10-Q cover page (shares outstanding as of 2026-08-03)

20

Strengths & weaknessesSite analysis

Strengths

  1. 1. Debt-free balance sheet

    The $350 million revolving facility expired on January 31, 2025 with no borrowings; cash rose to $1,344M at Sep 30, 2025.

    Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30)

  2. 2. Rising profitability

    Operating income rose from $392M (fiscal 2020) to $766M (fiscal 2025).

    Evidence: SEC EDGAR XBRL

  3. 3. Recurring services and subscriptions

    Services revenue of $1,579M and remaining performance obligations of $2.0 billion.

    Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30)

Weaknesses

  1. 1. Distributor concentration

    Customer A (15.8%) and Customer B (17.5%) distributors accounted for a third of fiscal 2025 revenue.

    Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30)

  2. 2. Security incident

    A nation-state actor exfiltrated portions of BIG-IP source code and information on undisclosed vulnerabilities.

    Evidence: Form 8-K (2025-10-15) — Item 1.05 material cybersecurity incident

21

What draws investors to itSite analysis

Why the stock can look attractive to investors — each point paired with what has to hold for it to stay true, and the opposing view. This is this site's analysis, not a recommendation to buy or sell.

P/E (FY2025)

27.4x

Price at fiscal year-end ÷ diluted EPS

Dividend yield (FY2025)

—

Dividends per share ÷ fiscal year-end price

Payout ratio (FY2025)

—

Dividends per share ÷ diluted EPS

FCF yield (FY2025)

4.9%

(Operating CF − capex) ÷ market cap

  1. 1. Net cash and buybacks

    No debt and $1.3B of cash; $922.4M of repurchase authorization remained at Sep 30, 2025.

    What has to hold
    Cash flow stays strong.
    The other side
    Security-incident costs and litigation.

    Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30)

  2. 2. EPS growth

    Diluted EPS rose from $5.01 (fiscal 2020) to $11.80 (fiscal 2025).

    What has to hold
    Margins hold as software grows.
    The other side
    Systems demand is cyclical.

    Evidence: SEC EDGAR XBRL

Fiscal years end September 30. Interest-bearing debt is zero from fiscal 2023 (term loan repaid; revolver expired January 2025 undrawn).

22

ResilienceSite analysisShow

How well the company could absorb a bad year: its financial buffer, how its revenue and profit held up in the worst year on record, and what the 10-K says about the business's exposure to shocks. Figures and filing statements only — no overall rating.

1. Financial buffer (FY2025)

Cash & short-term investments ÷ debt due within a year

—

$1.34B vs. —

Interest coverage (operating income ÷ interest expense)

Not disclosed

Interest expense isn’t reported as a separate line.

Free cash flow ÷ dividends paid

—

2. Worst year in the record, and the recovery

FigureWorst year-over-year changeBack to the prior level?
RevenueNo decline in the record—
Operating incomeNo decline in the record—

Covers only the 6 fiscal years on record (FY2020–FY2025), which may not include a full recession — the worst year here isn’t necessarily how the company would fare in a severe downturn.

3. Business resilience (from the 10-K)

  • Services base

    Maintenance and support services provided $1,579M of fiscal 2025 revenue, more than half of the total.

    Source: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30)

  • No debt

    No borrowings; cash $1,344M at Sep 30, 2025.

    Source: Form 10-K (FY2025, year ended 2025-09-30)

24

Risks (including geopolitical)Site analysis

Starting from the 10-K's Risk Factors section, organized by category — geopolitical, currency, raw materials, regulatory, disaster, and more — with impact and likelihood assessed by this site.

Risk map

Vertical = impact on results, horizontal = likelihood. Upper right = most severe. Numbers match the list below (placement is this site’s own assessment).

Impact
High
12
Med
34
5
Low
LowMedHigh

Likelihood →

"Company disclosure" vs. "this site’s assessment"

The description and mitigation for each risk are this site’s summary of the 10-K’s "Risk Factors" section. Impact and likelihood are this site’s own assessment, not the company’s — where the company discloses its own likelihood assessment, that is noted in the summary.

Impact is judged from how large the affected business is relative to total revenue/profit, and from the risk’s track record of moving results in the past. Likelihood is judged from the filing’s wording and the current business environment (already occurring, or recurring). See the rating criteria.

  1. 1Information security

    Cyber Incident follow-on effects

    Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
    The Cyber Incident may lead to customer and third-party claims, government inquiries and higher costs; F5 incurred $26.5M of response costs in the nine months to June 2026.
    Company’s stated mitigation
    Software updates to address BIG-IP vulnerabilities; insurance recoveries of $5.3M.
    This site’s assessment
    Impact High / Likelihood Med
  2. 2Competition & technology shift

    Shift to cloud delivery

    Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
    Competitors including public cloud providers and edge vendors are deploying cloud-based services as pricing and delivery models evolve.
    Company’s stated mitigation
    Not stated in the filings.
    This site’s assessment
    Impact High / Likelihood Med
  3. 3Customer/supplier concentration

    Distributor dependence

    Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
    Two distributors each supply over 15% of revenue.
    Company’s stated mitigation
    Not stated in the filings.
    This site’s assessment
    Impact Med / Likelihood Med
  4. 4Supply chain

    Outsourced manufacturing

    Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
    Systems are built by contract manufacturers; F5 has purchase commitments with a component supplier.
    Company’s stated mitigation
    Not stated in the filings.
    This site’s assessment
    Impact Med / Likelihood Med
  5. 5Law & regulation

    Securities and IP litigation

    Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
    A securities class action over cybersecurity statements and Lynwood’s copyright claim over NGINX Plus are pending.
    Company’s stated mitigation
    Not stated in the filings.
    This site’s assessment
    Impact Med / Likelihood High

25

What changed in the risk factorsFrom SEC data

Paragraphs in the latest 10-K's Risk Factors that have little overlap with the year before, and paragraphs that were dropped.

New or substantially reworded (5)

  • The Cyber Incident has had and may continue to have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, customer, employee and partner relations, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows

  • The Cyber Incident may harm our reputation, our customers, employee and partner relations and our operations and business. Read more

    Customers may in the future defer purchasing or choose to cancel or not renew their agreements or subscriptions with us.

  • We may expend significant costs and expenses related to the Cyber Incident including in connection with our investigations, and to address the damage to our reputation, customer, employee and partner relations. Read more

    If we are unable to maintain the trust of our current and prospective customers and partners, or our personnel continue to have to devote significant time to the Cyber Incident, our business, market share, results of operations and financial condition could be negatively affected.

  • As a result of the Cyber Incident and market forces beyond our control, the cost of our insurance may increase substantially, and we may not be able to obtain additional or comparable insurance coverage on commercially reasonable terms. Read more

    In addition, governmental authorities investigating the Cyber Incident may seek to impose undertakings, injunctive relief, consent decrees, or other civil or criminal penalties, which could, among other things, materially increase our software development and related expenses or otherwise require us to alter how we operate our business. Further, any legislative or regulatory changes adopted in reaction to the Cyber Incident could require us to make modifications to the operation of our business that could have an adverse effect or increase or accelerate our compliance costs.

  • We have not seen any evidence of modification to our software supply chain, including our source code and our build release pipelines. Read more

    We have confirmed that the threat actor exfiltrated files from our BIG-IP product development environment and engineering knowledge management platform. The discovery of new or different information regarding the Cyber Incident, including with respect to its scope and impact on our systems, products or customers, could increase our costs and liabilities related to the Cyber Incident and result in further damage to our business, reputation, intellectual property, results of operations and financial condition. The Cyber Incident also may embolden other threat actors to further target our systems, which could result in additional harm to our business. We cannot ensure that our steps to secure our systems, our product development environments and protect the…

No longer in the text (2)

  • Our products must successfully operate with products from other vendors. Read more

    As a result, when problems occur in a network, it may be difficult to identify the source of the problem. The occurrence of software or hardware problems, whether caused by our products or another vendor’s products, may result in the delay or loss of market acceptance of our products. The occurrence of any of these problems may harm our business and results of operations.

  • In addition, the impact of Brexit on EU-UK political, trade, economic and diplomatic relations continues to be uncertain and such impact may not be fully realized for several years or more. Read more

    Continued uncertainty and friction may result in regulatory, operational, and cost challenges to our UK and global operations.

Matched automatically, quoted as filed, and may include rewording of an existing risk. Compares Item 1A of the 10-K filed Nov 25, 2025 ↗ with the 10-K filed Nov 18, 2024 ↗.

26

What to watch going forwardSite analysis

  • Ruling on the July 22, 2026 motion to dismiss the securities class action (Smith v. F5).
  • Remaining costs and any customer claims or government action from the Cyber Incident.
  • Systems refresh demand and software subscription growth.
  • Integration of CalypsoAI AI-security technology.

27

Source documentsShow

This page's financial figures come from the Form 10-Ks listed below. Check the original filings for full detail.

Last updated

Analysis last edited: October 24, 2026 · Financial data fetched: October 24, 2026 09:45 (SEC EDGAR) · Source 10-K filed: November 25, 2025

Built on10-K FY2025 · filed 2025-11-25Proxy statement (2026)

Next update expectedAfter FY2026’s 10-K is filed (roughly 60–90 days after fiscal year end (sooner for larger filers)), financials and analysis will be refreshed.

This page is this site’s own analysis based on public information, and does not represent F5, Inc.’s views. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and this site does not guarantee the accuracy of any figure or statement here. Always verify against the original source documents before making an investment decision.