NetApp (NTAP) closed the most recent trading day at $88, moving -0.51% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.06%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.28%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.1%.

Shares of the data storage company have appreciated by 0.06% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.52% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.29%.

The upcoming earnings release of NetApp will be of great interest to investors. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.89, up 5% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $1.73 billion, indicating a 3.42% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $7.23 per share and a revenue of $6.57 billion, indicating changes of +11.92% and +4.74%, respectively, from the former year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for NetApp. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% lower. NetApp currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, NetApp is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 12.24. This expresses no noticeable deviation compared to the average Forward P/E of 12.24 of its industry.

One should further note that NTAP currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.43. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Computer- Storage Devices industry stood at 1.58 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 95, putting it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

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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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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NetApp, Inc. (NTAP):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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