New York, Feb 18, 2026, 05:55 EST — Premarket
- Okta barely budged in premarket action, following a 5.4% drop at Tuesday’s close.
- Price targets came down at both Mizuho and Truist, with analysts citing tighter valuations across the software space.
- Okta’s results on March 4 are in focus as investors search for clues on demand and bookings trends.
Okta stock hovered unchanged before the bell, following a 5.4% drop the previous day that marked one of the identity security company’s bigger swings this month.
The decline stands out, with investors holding back across U.S. software stocks, pushing down valuation multiples as they question just how durable fast growth will be in today’s “AI everywhere” environment. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 software index slid 1.6%, while major indexes managed to notch slight gains. (Reuters)
Okta shares dropped with the broader market, finishing at $82.46. Earlier, the stock touched a session low of $80.95, Yahoo Finance data show. (Yahoo Finance)
Analysts played a part in the move. Mizuho trimmed Okta’s price target down to $100 from $110 while maintaining its “outperform” call, pointing to “material recent multiple compression” in enterprise software, according to TheFly. (TipRanks)
Truist cut its target price to $115 from $125 but kept its buy rating intact, Yahoo Finance data shows. (Yahoo Finance)
It’s not just a handful of names feeling the nerves—cybersecurity stocks as a whole have been unsettled. Shares of Palo Alto Networks slipped this day after the company trimmed its annual profit outlook, blaming higher expenses from its acquisition spree. Management flagged deal integration as a drag, even though revenues weren’t the problem. (Reuters)
Okta reported quarterly revenue of $742 million, a 12% increase over the same period last year, and bumped up its full-year guidance back in December. CEO Todd McKinnon pointed to “continued strength with large customers” in his comments to investors. (Okta)
The next hard checkpoint looms. Okta will release its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 numbers after the bell on March 4, with a webcast slated for 5:00 p.m. ET. (Okta)
Traders are zeroing in on subscription demand, particularly looking at bookings and “remaining performance obligations,” which tracks contracted revenue that hasn’t hit the books yet. Software stocks just hit a rough patch, so these numbers are in sharp focus.
Plenty of risks remain. Should Okta’s guidance reveal clients putting off deployments, or if buyers start favoring the big platform players, shares might remain stuck in the valuation slump dogging peers.
