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Fortinet (FTNT) Rises As Market Takes a Dip: Key Facts

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Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $94.85, moving +1.6% from the previous trading session. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.09% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.04%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.1%.

Coming into today, shares of the network security company had gained 0.98% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 3.04%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.29%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Fortinet in its upcoming release. On that day, Fortinet is projected to report earnings of $0.60 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 17.65%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $1.59 billion, indicating a 12.61% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $2.23 per share and a revenue of $5.89 billion, indicating changes of +36.81% and +11.02%, respectively, from the former year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Fortinet. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-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 reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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.

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 shifted 1.44% upward. Fortinet currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

In the context of valuation, Fortinet is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 41.9. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 32.61, so one might conclude that Fortinet is trading at a premium comparatively.

We can additionally observe that FTNT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.29. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Internet - Software industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.29 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 31, which puts it in the top 13% 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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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