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Fortinet (FTNT) closed the latest trading day at $97.94, indicating a +0.48% change from the previous session's end. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.06%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.24%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Fortinet in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on February 6, 2025. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.60, marking a 17.65% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.59 billion, up 12.59% from the prior-year quarter.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Fortinet. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.6% higher within the past month. Right now, Fortinet possesses a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Investors should also note Fortinet's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 41.32. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 41.55.
It is also worth noting that FTNT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.26. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Internet - Software industry stood at 3.4 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 23, putting it in the top 10% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.