Northrop Grumman Corporation vs Palo Alto Networks Inc — how do they compare? Northrop Grumman Corporation trades at $574 (market cap $81.78B), while Palo Alto Networks Inc trades at $383.63 (market cap $312.80B). The key difference: Palo Alto Networks Inc is far larger — about 3.8× Northrop Grumman Corporation's market cap, and Northrop Grumman Corporation pays a 1.63% dividend while Palo Alto Networks Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| NOC | PANW | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $81.78B | $312.80B |
Sector | Industrials | Technology |
52-Week High | $768.02 | $385.04 |
52-Week Low | $496.02 | $141.67 |
Enterprise Value | $95.77B | $311.76B |
Dividend Yield | 1.63% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades at $577.89, up 1.1% today, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages and a record $105 billion backlog supporting fundamentals. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations, with sales growth of 5% and raised full-year guidance (Seeking Alpha, 2026-07-23). Valuation ratios like P/E of 18.3 and ROE of 26.96% reflect strong profitability, though RSI levels indicate overbought conditions.
The outlook is positive due to defense spending tailwinds and strategic contracts, but risks include margin pressure from specific programs and geopolitical volatility. Analysts maintain a buy consensus with a $598.57 price target, suggesting modest upside from current levels.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) trades at $385.04, up 5.82% over the past day, reflecting strong momentum amid positive sentiment around AI-driven cybersecurity demand. The stock exhibits a bullish technical setup with moving averages supporting the uptrend, while RSI levels suggest potential overbought conditions. Fundamentally, the company reported revenue of $9.22B in 2025 with a net income margin of 7.95%, though valuation ratios like P/E of 333.74 indicate a premium. Recent news highlights record highs following the Black Hat conference and AI platform launches, though a Chinese regulatory review introduces near-term uncertainty.
The outlook for PANW remains positive given robust revenue growth, AI integration, and Wall Street's bullish consensus, but risks include elevated valuation, integration costs from acquisitions, and geopolitical scrutiny. Investors should weigh the company's leadership in cybersecurity against potential volatility from regulatory developments and high expectations priced into the stock.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that is diversified across short-cycle and long-cycle businesses. The firm's segments include aeronautics, mission systems, defense services, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment creates the fuselage for the massive F-35 program and produces various piloted and autonomous flight systems. Mission systems creates a variety of sensors and processors for defense hardware. The defense systems segment is a long-range missile manufacturer. Finally, the company's space systems segment produces various space structures, sensors, and satellites.
Read more on NOC →Palo Alto Networks is a pure-play cybersecurity vendor that sells security appliances, subscriptions, and support into enterprises, government entities, and service providers. The company's product portfolio includes firewall appliances, virtual firewalls, endpoint protection, cloud security, and cybersecurity analytics. The Santa Clara, California, firm was established in 2005 and sells its products worldwide.
Read more on PANW →