NetApp (NTAP) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, NetApp (NTAP) closed at $64.71, marking a +0.79% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.64%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.95%.

Coming into today, shares of the data storage company had lost 18.62% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 3.66%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.97%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from NTAP as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 13, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.15, up 16.16% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.60 billion, up 5.16% from the year-ago period.

NTAP's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.49 per share and revenue of $6.30 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +29.39% and +6.52%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for NTAP. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.53% higher. NTAP currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, NTAP currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.31. This valuation marks a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.31.

Also, we should mention that NTAP has a PEG ratio of 1.01. 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. NTAP's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.01 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 223, which puts it in the bottom 13% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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