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F5, Inc.

Rank #152Capital ReturnWatchlistCompare with other stocks

FFIV · Nasdaq · Technology

F5, Inc. (FFIV) — Rank #152 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.37) · ROE 18.0% · Piotroski F-Score N/A.

As-of 2026-10-30 · CIK 0001048695 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

F5, Inc. provides multicloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region.

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The company's distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud. It also offers unified, security, networking, and application management solutions, such as web app and API protection; multi-cloud networking; application delivery and deployment; domain name system; content delivery network; and application deployment and orchestration. In addition, the company provides application security and delivery products, including NGINX Plus; NGINX One Console; NGINX Ingress Controller; WAF for NGINX; BIG-IP Packaged Software; and BIG-IP Systems. Further, it provides a range of professional services, including maintenance, consulting, training, and other technical support services. The company sells its products to large enterprise businesses, public sector institutions, governments, and service providers through distributors, value-added resellers, managed service providers, systems integrators, and other indirect channel partners. It has partnerships with public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company was formerly known as F5 Networks, Inc. and changed its name to F5, Inc. in November 2021. F5, Inc.

was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Industry
Software - Infrastructure
Sector
Technology
State
WA
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
September 30
Website
f5.com

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

6,512

Industry

Software - Infrastructure

Exchange

Nasdaq

11/11

Flags passed

FFIV passes 11/11 quality flags

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    Dilution within 2%
  • PASS
    FCF not negative from investment
  • PASS
    Disclosure consistent
  • PASS
    Revenue not declining
  • PASS
    Operating margin holding
  • PASS
    Free cash flow intact
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    No competitive retreat
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No valuation convergence

Strengths Revenue growth accelerating · Operating leverage expanding · Deferred revenue growing · RPO outpacing revenue · Sequential beat (rev + EPS)

No data Balance sheet — not counted as a pass.

A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.37
Return on equity
18.0%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.77
Current ratio
1.66×
Net cash
$1.63B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
7.5%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
9.7%
Piotroski F-Score
N/A
Share dilution
-1.1%

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Does it make money well?

No warning flags · GP/assets 84th percentile of 26 SIC 35 peers

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.37

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

84th pctl of 26 SIC 35 peers

Return on equity

18.0%

Gross margin

81.4%

100th pctl of 26 SIC 35 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

9.7%

RPO growth (YoY)

11.1%

Remaining performance obligations growth — RPO > revenue = forward demand building.

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

4.6%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

5.6%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

29.0%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

30.4%

Cash Flow Health

Is the cash real?

No warning flags · FCF 31% above net income

Free cash flow

$906.41M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF vs net income

30.9%

(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.

FCF not below net income

Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

7.5%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Balance Sheet Strength

Can it survive a storm?

No warning flags · net cash $1.63B

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.77

60th pctl of 26 SIC 35 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.66×

32nd pctl of 26 SIC 35 peers

Quick ratio

1.15×

Net cash

$1.63B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Piotroski F-Score

N/A

Only 8/9 components determinable.

Valuation

Is the price reasonable?

No warning flags

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

20.3xFair
16.5xmed 25.1x44.0x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

4.6xFair
3.3xmed 3.9x5.6x

P / B

Price / book value per share

3.9xFair
3.5xmed 4.3x6.2x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

5.6xFair
3.9xmed 4.8x6.9x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

15.5xFair
10.6xmed 16.5x23.8x

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

2.5 / 5

Fair
Share count trend(net buybacks)
-1.1%3/5 Good
Buyback timing
vs own P/E history4/5 Strong
Dividend growth consistency(non-payer or broken streak)
0 yr3/5 Good
Net debt trajectory
N/A0/5 Weak

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Value
Op. Leverage
Capital Return

Price History

FFIV+114.3% · +16.4% CAGRSPY+84.0% · +12.9% CAGR

View full financial statements →

Source filings on SEC EDGAR: 10-K annual reports · 10-Q quarterly reports