Back to top

Image: Bigstock

NetApp (NTAP) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing

Read MoreHide Full Article

The most recent trading session ended with NetApp (NTAP - Free Report) standing at $102.48, reflecting a +1.13% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.32%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.38%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.35%.

Shares of the data storage company have depreciated by 3.47% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 1.9% and the S&P 500's loss of 2%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of NetApp in its forthcoming earnings report. In that report, analysts expect NetApp to post earnings of $1.80 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 16.88%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $1.66 billion, indicating a 5.05% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

NTAP's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.47 per share and revenue of $6.26 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +15.74% and -1.59%, respectively.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for NetApp. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. Currently, NetApp is carrying a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Investors should also note NetApp's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 15.67. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 25.53, which means NetApp is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that NTAP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.78. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Computer- Storage Devices was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.37 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 28, which puts it in the top 12% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) - free report >>

Published in