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Fortinet (FTNT) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) closed at $66.78, marking a -0.18% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.09%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.07%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.98%.

Heading into today, shares of the network security company had gained 5.77% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.75% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.59% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Fortinet as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 4, 2023. On that day, Fortinet is projected to report earnings of $0.28 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 47.37%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.2 billion, up 25.7% from the year-ago period.

FTNT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.41 per share and revenue of $5.4 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +18.49% and +22.36%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Fortinet. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.27% higher within the past month. Fortinet is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note Fortinet's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 47.31. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 41.29, which means Fortinet is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that FTNT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.63. 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. Internet - Software stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.66 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 62, which puts it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

To follow FTNT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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