MSFT vs PANW Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Microsoft's Defender/Sentinel security bundle against Palo Alto Networks' platformization strategy (Cortex, Prisma) and which wins enterprise cybersecurity budgets.
Use this Microsoft vs Palo Alto Networks comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
MSFT holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. PANW has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+74.00% vs -1.12%), though MSFT has the better forward P/E setup (21.78x vs 90.43x for PANW). On fundamentals, PANW is growing revenue faster (31.10%), while MSFT maintains the higher operating margin (45.11%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MSFT (+10.89%) than for PANW (-2.04%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | MSFT | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 59.5 | 67.2 |
| AI ranki | #155 | #52 |
| Latest closei | $499.70 | $333.26 |
| 1M returni | +2.51% | -8.11% |
| 6M returni | +21.68% | +104.25% |
| 1Y returni | -1.12% | +74.00% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MSFT | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.84K (-1.6%) started 2025-09-04 | $17.33K (+73.3%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $17.73K (+77.3%) started 2021-09-07 | $43.22K (+332.2%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $108.49K (+984.9%) started 2016-09-06 | $137.93K (+1279.3%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MSFT | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $3.81T | $302.85B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 28.58 | 323.12 |
| Forward P/Ei | 21.78 | 90.43 |
| Price/Salesi | 11.87 | 15.00 |
| EV/Revenuei | 11.65 | 28.46 |
| Analyst targeti | $569.45 | $364.01 |
| Target upsidei | +10.89% | -2.04% |
| Metric | MSFT | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 17.70% | 31.10% |
| Earnings growthi | 31.70% | 60.50% |
| EPS growthi | +31.70% | +60.50% |
| FCF margini | +4.99% | +33.75% |
| Operating margini | 45.11% | -2.46% |
| Profit margini | 40.30% | 7.95% |
| ROIC proxyi | 34.04% | 4.83% |
| Return on equityi | 34.04% | 4.83% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.71% | N/A |
| Betai | 1.10 | 0.89 |
| Debt/equityi | 29.12 | 7.70 |
| Current ratioi | 1.23 | 0.86 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.10 | 0.73 |
Over the past year, MSFT and PANW have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.41), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MSFT | PANW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -1.63% | +73.26% |
| CAGRi | -1.63% | +73.39% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.45% | 45.11% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.03 | 1.34 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.04 | 2.08 | |
| Max drawdowni | 34.91% | 36.01% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.82% | 15.84% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 16.70% | 11.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.66% | 15.58% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.99% | 9.28% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.43% | 13.66% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +71.75% | +332.21% |
| CAGRi | +11.44% | +34.07% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.20% | 42.51% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.37 | 0.80 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.54 | 1.16 | |
| Max drawdowni | 37.15% | 36.01% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.82% | 15.84% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.16% | 11.28% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.67% | 14.38% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.99% | 28.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.43% | 28.86% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +867.26% | +1279.29% |
| CAGRi | +25.49% | +30.03% | |
| Volatilityi | 27.74% | 39.27% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.80 | 0.76 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.18 | 1.08 | |
| Max drawdowni | 37.15% | 47.98% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.82% | 15.84% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.60% | 11.34% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 11.62% | 14.55% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.74% | 28.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 16.36% | 28.86% |
| Category | MSFT | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| Company | MSFT | PANW |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Infrastructure | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Microsoft Corporation, a technology company, develops and supports a portfolio of technology solutions for individuals and businesses worldwide. | Palo Alto Networks, Inc. provides cybersecurity solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. |
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