Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) shares have delivered outstanding gains of 70% so far in 2023, and a nice chunk of that jump came after the company released its fiscal 2023 fourth-quarter results (for the three months through July) on Aug. 18. Shares of the cybersecurity specialist shot up more than 15% thanks to faster-than-expected growth in earnings and solid guidance that points toward healthy growth ahead.

But with the stock trading at an expensive 11 times sales and 52 times forward earnings following its hot rally this year, does it make sense for investors to buy this richly valued cybersecurity stock in anticipation of more gains? Let's find out.

Palo Alto Networks exited fiscal 2023 with revenue growth of 25% to $6.9 billion. The company also saw a massive spike of 76% in adjusted earnings to $4.44 per share. More importantly, Palo Alto's earnings guidance of $1.16 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 on revenue of $2.05 billion to $2.08 billion was well ahead of Wall Street's estimate of $1.12 per share in earnings on $1.93 billion in revenue.

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Source Fool.com