Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023 reached $1.8 billion, up from $1.4 billion at the same time last year.

The group is profitable since the beginning of the year - that's the big news - but there is as usual a caricatured gap between its "non-GAAP" accounting and its real results.

For example, in the last quarter, the operating profit of $407 million when stock options - whose average exercise price is three times lower than the current market price - are excluded, falls to $79 million only when they are included.

This reminds us of the very funny remark that the president of Sun Microsystems addressed to an audience of investors in the aftermath of the dotcom bubble:

"By valuing you at x10 our sales, to ensure a 10% return on investment, I should have returned 100% of my sales for ten years in dividends.

This would have meant that I would have had no production expenses, which is not easy for an IT company, and no personnel expenses despite my 39,000 employees.

It would also have meant that I would have had to pay no taxes, which is illegal, and that I would have had to maintain my economic performance without spending anything on R&D, which in the technology sector is likely to be complicated.

[...]

But what did you have in mind when you bought my stock at such valuation multiples?"

Beyond the triumphant statements, Palo Alto's management does not seem to be losing its way: in recent months, executives have massively sold their shares to the market.