F5, Inc. - FFIV STOCK NEWS

F5 has announced early access to its AI Gateway, a containerized solution designed to streamline interactions between applications, APIs, and large language models (LLMs). The solution addresses key enterprise challenges in AI adoption by optimizing performance, security, and cost management. According to F5's research, 75% of enterprises are implementing AI.

The AI Gateway provides security policy enforcement, semantic caching to reduce operational costs, streamlined integration processes, and optimized load balancing. It can be deployed in any cloud or data center and integrates with F5's NGINX and BIG-IP platforms, offering protection against OWASP Top Ten LLM Application risks and enabling customizable security controls.

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) reported strong Q4 FY2024 results with revenue of $747 million, up 6% year-over-year, driven by 19% software revenue growth. For FY2024, total revenue reached $2.82 billion with software revenue growing 11%. The company achieved GAAP EPS of $9.55 for FY2024, up from $6.55 in FY2023, and non-GAAP EPS of $13.37, compared to $11.70 in FY2023. The Board authorized an additional $1 billion for share repurchases. Looking ahead, F5 expects 4-5% revenue growth and 5-7% non-GAAP EPS growth in FY2025.

F5 announces BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes, an AI application delivery and security solution integrated with NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs. This solution aims to accelerate and secure data traffic for AI infrastructures, particularly benefiting service providers and large enterprises. The integration optimizes data center efficiency, enhances AI inference performance, and improves infrastructure utilization.

The solution offers streamlined AI service delivery at cloud scale, enhanced control of AI deployments with rich observability, and protection for AI landscapes through automated security features. Available from November, it specifically targets high-demand environments like telco cloud and 5G infrastructures, supporting multiple L7 protocols beyond HTTP.

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) has appointed two new members to its board of directors: Maya McReynolds, 53, and Julie Gonzalez, 43, effective October 10, 2024. Both will serve on the Audit Committee. McReynolds, currently CFO of Dell Technologies' Client Solutions Group, brings over 25 years of finance and accounting experience. Gonzalez, SVP of Business Finance at Workday, has more than 15 years of experience in financial planning for software organizations.

The appointments expand F5's board to 12 members, 11 of whom are independent. The board now includes five directors who identify as female and four who identify as racially or ethnically diverse. Alan Higginson, F5's Board Chairperson, emphasized that their expertise in managing large-scale SaaS businesses and driving business transformations will be valuable as F5 extends its software and SaaS capabilities.

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) has announced it will report its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 financial results on Monday, October 28, 2024 after market close. The company will host a live webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET on the same day to discuss results with investors and analysts.

Interested parties can access the webcast through F5's investor relations website. An audio-only version will be available via phone: +1 (877) 407-0312 for U.S. and Canada callers, or +1 (201) 389-0899 for international callers.

Replays will be accessible through the investor relations website and via phone using meeting ID 13749373. Phone replay numbers are +1 (877) 660-6853 (U.S. and Canada) and +1 (201) 612-7415 (international), available until October 29, 2024.

OVHcloud US and F5 have announced a collaboration to provide advanced multicloud application security. This partnership will give OVHcloud customers access to F5 Distributed Cloud Services, offering infrastructure-agnostic solutions that simplify networking across data centers, clouds, and the edge while ensuring consistent app security policy and enforcement.

The collaboration enables Web App and API Protection (WAAP) and secure multicloud networking for all OVHcloud instances, including bare-metal, hosted private cloud, and public cloud. F5's private global network will allow OVHcloud customers to integrate web application and API protection where apps are deployed, with the option to isolate app security services from the public Internet using lightweight software extensions (Customer Edge).

This partnership aims to address the complex challenges of securely connecting applications and APIs across hybrid multicloud environments, supporting cloud deployments globally without compromising security.

F5's 2024 State of Application Strategy Report: API Security reveals significant gaps in API protection, exposing enterprises to potential threats. Key findings include:

1. Less than 70% of customer-facing APIs use HTTPS, leaving nearly one-third unprotected.
2. Organizations manage an average of 421 different APIs, mostly in public cloud environments.
3. Current security practices focus on inbound traffic, leaving outbound API calls vulnerable.
4. API security responsibility is divided within organizations, potentially leading to coverage gaps.
5. Programmability is ranked as the most valuable API security capability.

The report emphasizes the need for comprehensive security solutions covering the entire API lifecycle to address these challenges in the AI era.

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) and NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) have expanded their collaboration to accelerate enterprise AI capabilities using F5's secure multicloud networking solutions and NetApp's data management solutions. The partnership focuses on streamlining large language model (LLM) deployments across hybrid cloud environments, particularly for Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) implementations.

The collaboration integrates F5 Distributed Cloud Services with NetApp's suite, including Cloud Volumes ONTAP, to provide efficient and secure RAG solutions. This integration aims to enhance AI system performance, security, and utility while reducing the complexity of managing hybrid and multicloud infrastructure. The joint solution enables unified operational models for data management, security, and networking, contributing to cost reduction and supporting innovative AI projects.

F5 is sponsoring NetApp INSIGHT 2024 as a Gold Sponsor, where they will showcase their innovative solution for generative AI during a breakout session on September 24.

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) has launched NGINX One, a comprehensive solution that simplifies application security and delivery for development, operations, and platform teams. This new offering combines advanced load balancing, web and application server capabilities, API gateway functionalities, and security features in a unified package.

Key features of NGINX One include:

• Centralized management of NGINX instances and NGINX Open Source via a SaaS-based console
• Enhanced visibility and observability across hybrid multicloud environments
• Simplified configuration and management of traffic optimization, security, and scale
• Improved integration within the F5 ecosystem for enhanced app and API performance

NGINX One aims to streamline application deployment across diverse environments, from data centers to cloud and edge, while ensuring global policy compliance and cost-effective optimization of complex application and API environments.