Fortinet (FTNT) closed the most recent trading day at $99.79, moving +1.16% from the previous trading session. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.77%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 1.42%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 2.28%.
Coming into today, shares of the network security company had lost 10.33% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 9.47%, while the S&P 500 lost 5.73%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Fortinet in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $0.53, showcasing a 23.26% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.54 billion, up 13.52% from the year-ago period.
FTNT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.46 per share and revenue of $6.76 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +3.8% and +13.49%, respectively.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Fortinet. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming 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 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.29% higher. Fortinet presently features a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, Fortinet is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 40.17. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 61.78.
Also, we should mention that FTNT has a PEG ratio of 3.09. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Security was holding an average PEG ratio of 3.09 at yesterday's closing price.
The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, which puts it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. 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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Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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