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

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Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $173.46, moving -2.92% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.51% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.93%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.48%.

Coming into today, shares of the network security company had gained 3.41% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 6.54%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.74%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Fortinet in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.86, marking a 16.22% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $2.06 billion, indicating a 19.44% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $3.42 per share and a revenue of $8.12 billion, demonstrating changes of +23.91% and +19.37%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It is also important to note the recent changes 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 business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.8% higher. Currently, Fortinet is carrying a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Digging into valuation, Fortinet currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 52.17. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 52.62.

We can additionally observe that FTNT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.02. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Security industry held an average PEG ratio of 3.16.

The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55, putting it in the top 23% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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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