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Fortinet (FTNT) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

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Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $60.23, indicating a -0.64% change from the previous session's end. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.23%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.17%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.34%.

Heading into today, shares of the network security company had lost 0.18% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 2.01% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 3.96% in that time.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Fortinet in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.41, reflecting a 7.89% increase from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.4 billion, up 8.6% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $1.75 per share and a revenue of $5.79 billion, signifying shifts of +7.36% and +9.22%, respectively, from the last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Fortinet should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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 has moved 0.39% higher. At present, Fortinet boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Fortinet currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 34.6. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 30.42, so one might conclude that Fortinet is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that FTNT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.48. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Internet - Software industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.7 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, which puts it in the top 29% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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