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Cloudflare (NET) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

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Cloudflare (NET - Free Report) closed at $218.58 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.04% move from the prior day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.26%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.15%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.48%.

Coming into today, shares of the web security and content delivery company had gained 3.66% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 7.4%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.87%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Cloudflare in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.23, indicating a 15% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $544.06 million, up 26.5% from the year-ago period.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $0.84 per share and a revenue of $2.11 billion, representing changes of +12% and +26.66%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Cloudflare. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable 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 moved 0.99% lower. As of now, Cloudflare holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Cloudflare is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 256.61. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 29.71.

We can also see that NET currently has a PEG ratio of 10.69. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Internet - Software was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.27 at yesterday's closing price.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 71, finds itself in the top 29% 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.

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


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