Maryanne Sarfati's questions to F5 Inc (FFIV) leadership • Q3 2025
Question
Maryanne Sarfati, on behalf of Meta Marshall, asked for the reasons why gross margins came in at the lower end of the guidance range despite the strong revenue performance.
Answer
CFO Cooper Werner explained that the slight miss on gross margin was driven by product mix. He cited a higher proportion of systems sales, which have lower margins than software, and specific high-performance systems deals requiring FIPS compliance, which carry a slightly lower margin profile. He noted that gross margins are expected to improve in Q4.