Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) closed at $223.77, marking a -0.82% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.68% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.33%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.46%.

Coming into today, shares of the security software maker had lost 4.18% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 3.33%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.19%.

PANW will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be May 29, 2019. In that report, analysts expect PANW to post earnings of $1.25 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 26.26%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $703.44 million, up 24.04% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.47 per share and revenue of $2.87 billion. These totals would mark changes of +37.09% and +26.07%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for PANW. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature 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.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. PANW is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note PANW's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 41.23. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 41.23, so we one might conclude that PANW is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.

Also, we should mention that PANW has a PEG ratio of 1.76. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. PANW's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.4 as of yesterday's close.

The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 62, which puts it in the top 25% 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.

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

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