Palo Alto Networks (PANW) ended the recent trading session at $215.09, demonstrating a +1.26% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.58%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.31%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.89%.
Shares of the security software maker witnessed a gain of 5.84% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Computer and Technology sector with its loss of 0.5%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.16%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Palo Alto Networks in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.89, indicating a 14.1% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.46 billion, up 15.08% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $3.79 per share and a revenue of $10.42 billion, signifying shifts of +13.47% and +13.03%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Palo Alto Networks. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.15% higher. As of now, Palo Alto Networks holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In the context of valuation, Palo Alto Networks is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 56.11. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 70.08.
We can additionally observe that PANW currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.85. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As the market closed yesterday, the Security industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.83.
The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 202, finds itself in the bottom 19% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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