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We recently compiled a list of the 10 Stocks That Became Analyst Favorites This Week. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) stands against the other analysts favorites.
US stocks registered a green day on Tuesday with the Dow surging up 538 points to end 1.24% higher. S&P 500 and Nasdaq also posted gains of 0.88% and 0.64% respectively, showcasing the strength of the American economy.
As for individual stocks, analysts continue to evaluate businesses based on any public information they can gather. Some of these insights turn into stock upgrades or downgrades while others reiterate the positive or negative outlook on the stocks. We came up with a similar list of stocks that have received analyst approval this week.
To come up with the list of 10 stocks moving on analyst optimism, we considered stocks with a market cap of at least $10 billion.
A cutting-edge computer lab full of IT experts monitoring the security of multiple systems.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
Palo Alto Networks Inc. is a global cybersecurity solutions provider. The company’s target price was increased from $223 to $230 with the maintained Overweight rating. Morgan Stanley analysts believe the recent downturn in PANW’s stock price created an opportunity for investors to take a position in the stock:
We see an increasingly attractive entry point in PANW and believe the stock can double in 4-5 years based on larger platform deals and share gain across multiple security categories.
The company’s second-quarter FY2025 results will be declared on 20th February. Estimates show the firm is expected to generate $2.24 billion in revenue with adjusted EPS of $0.78. Going forward, it will likely improve its profit margins in 2025 and 2026 by 1.5% each year, driving about 22% growth in earnings. The projected target price for 2025 is around $208.
Overall PANW ranks 5th on our list of the stocks that became analyst favorites this week. While we acknowledge the potential of PANW as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as PANW but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.