Yahoo Finance Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) closed the most recent trading day at $199.40, moving +1.82% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.45%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.09%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 35%.
Coming into today, shares of the security software maker had gained 1.57% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 0.17%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.44%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Palo Alto Networks as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 23, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.92, up 53.33% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.71 billion, up 23.65% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.01 per share and revenue of $6.89 billion. These totals would mark changes of +59.13% and +25.18%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Palo Alto Networks. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Palo Alto Networks currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Palo Alto Networks has a Forward P/E ratio of 48.85 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 40.51, so we one might conclude that Palo Alto Networks is trading at a premium comparatively.
Also, we should mention that PANW has a PEG ratio of 1.55. 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. Internet - Software stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.54 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, putting it in the top 41% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
