Why NetApp (NTAP) Outpaced the Stock Market Today

NetApp (NTAP) ended the recent trading session at $202.02, demonstrating a +1.79% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.26%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.54%.

Coming into today, shares of the data storage company had gained 13.7% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 0.41%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.13%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of NetApp in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on September 2, 2026. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $2.11, showcasing a 36.13% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $1.83 billion, showing a 17.61% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $8.88 per share and a revenue of $7.54 billion, signifying shifts of +9.23% and +8.86%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for NetApp. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. NetApp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Digging into valuation, NetApp currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 22.36. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.68, so one might conclude that NetApp is trading at a premium comparatively.

It's also important to note that NTAP currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.93. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Computer- Storage Devices industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.83.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 29, putting it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow NTAP in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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