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Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $238.83, moving +0.02% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.2%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.58%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.16%.

Coming into today, shares of the security software maker had gained 1.86% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 3.32%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.58%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Palo Alto Networks in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.16, indicating a 39.76% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.84 billion, up 17.8% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $5.34 per share and revenue of $8.18 billion, indicating changes of +20.27% and +18.65%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Palo Alto Networks. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Palo Alto Networks is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Palo Alto Networks is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 44.76. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 35.06, so one might conclude that Palo Alto Networks is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that PANW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.61. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Internet - Software stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.39 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 64, finds itself in the top 26% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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