NetApp (NTAP) ended the recent trading session at $126, demonstrating a -0.24% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.29% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.32%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.5%.

The data storage company's shares have seen an increase of 6.72% over the last month, surpassing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 1.8% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.52%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of NetApp in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.90, showcasing a 2.06% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $1.69 billion, indicating a 5.16% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.31 per share and a revenue of $6.65 billion, demonstrating changes of +13.16% and +6.06%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for NetApp. 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.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.12% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. NetApp currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, NetApp is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.27. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.67.

Also, we should mention that NTAP has a PEG ratio of 2.41. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Computer- Storage Devices was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.3 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 161, putting it in the bottom 36% 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.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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