In the latest trading session, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) closed at $226.15, marking a -1.56% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.33%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.4%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.21%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the security software maker had gained 0.2% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 0.6% and the S&P 500’s gain of 1.6% in that time.
PANW will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be November 19, 2018. On that day, PANW is projected to report earnings of $1.05 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 41.89%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $631.97 million, up 25.02% from the prior-year quarter.
PANW’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.02 per share and revenue of $2.77 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +25.81% and +22%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for PANW. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 27.2% higher. PANW is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, PANW is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 45.73. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 61.87, so we one might conclude that PANW is trading at a discount comparatively.
It is also worth noting that PANW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.95. 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. The Security industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.28 as of yesterday’s close.
The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 38, which puts it in the top 15% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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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