In the latest trading session, NetApp (NTAP) closed at $113.34, marking a -3.08% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.17% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.53%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 2.04%.
The data storage company's shares have seen a decrease of 2.89% over the last month, not keeping up with the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 5.49% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.12%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of NetApp in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.89, indicating a 1.07% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.69 billion, up 1.68% from the year-ago period.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $7.77 per share and a revenue of $6.76 billion, indicating changes of +7.17% and +3.86%, respectively, from the former year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for NetApp. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. As of now, NetApp holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, NetApp currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.06. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 19.98 for its industry.
Meanwhile, NTAP's PEG ratio is currently 2.05. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Computer- Storage Devices industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.05.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 40, placing it within the top 17% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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NetApp, Inc. (NTAP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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