Palo Alto Boosts the Nasdaq Despite Another Retail Stock Debacle

It's been another tough week for the stock market, as a big plunge in retail stocks raised new concerns about the impact of inflation on financial markets more broadly as well as the overall economy. As of 8:15 a.m. ET, futures contracts on the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) were up more than 1.5% to 12,065, as the index tries to pull itself up from its bear-market drop over the past six months. It's not surprising to find a tech stock trying to pull the tech-heavy index higher, and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) played that role Friday morning as the cybersecurity company confirmed its ability to keep growing even under more challenging conditions.