Palo Alto Networks shares got a rating upgrade, from a Raymond James analyst on what the latter perceives as significant underperformance.
The cybersecurity company’s shares were boosted to outperform from market perform by Raymond James analyst Adam Tindle . The analyst has a $400 price target on the shares.
Tindle said in a note that Palo Alto Networks "has underperformed significantly year to date, and we previously noted our concern that next gen [annual recurring revenue] guidance did not appear conservative." "We do still see this as a risk, but the stock has been penalized as relative valuation has compressed," Tindle said. "[And] our focus has now been turned to increased confidence that PANW can enter into a period of healthy growth and incremental profitability that are hallmarks of outperforming stocks in this space."
According to Tindle, Palo Alto experienced “a sustained period of healthy growth and operating leverage for the better part of prior CEO Mark McLaughlin's tenure." But the analyst also mentioned that significant acquisitions under current CEO Nikesh Arora have resulted in a period of depressed operating margin “while peer Fortinet has balanced organic growth with improving profitability and significantly outperformed during this period." The analyst added, "this creates an opportunity for Palo Alto as the previously noted Prisma platform is hitting an inflection, new [Chief Financial Officer] Dipak Golechha can be a catalyst for change in showing more operational improvement alongside this, and a revamped [investor-relations] effort should aid in communicating this story."
The RSI Indicator for PANW moved out of oversold territory on April 05, 2024. This could be a sign that the stock is shifting from a downward trend to an upward trend. Traders may want to buy the stock or call options. The A.I.dvisor looked at 24 similar instances when the indicator left oversold territory. In of the 24 cases the stock moved higher. This puts the odds of a move higher at .
The Momentum Indicator moved above the 0 level on April 16, 2024. You may want to consider a long position or call options on PANW as a result. In of 77 past instances where the momentum indicator moved above 0, the stock continued to climb. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for PANW just turned positive on April 09, 2024. Looking at past instances where PANW's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in of 39 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
PANW moved above its 50-day moving average on April 26, 2024 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend.
Following a 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where PANW advanced for three days, in of 363 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Stochastic Oscillator demonstrated that the ticker has stayed in the overbought zone for 4 days. The longer the ticker stays in the overbought zone, the sooner a price pull-back is expected.
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where PANW declined for three days, the price rose further in of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
PANW broke above its upper Bollinger Band on April 23, 2024. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options.
The Aroon Indicator for PANW entered a downward trend on April 15, 2024. This could indicate a strong downward move is ahead for the stock. Traders may want to consider selling the stock or buying put options.
The Tickeron Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating low risk on high returns. The average Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for the industry is 89, placing this stock better than average.
The Tickeron SMR rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating very strong sales and a profitable business model. SMR (Sales, Margin, Return on Equity) rating is based on comparative analysis of weighted Sales, Income Margin and Return on Equity values compared against S&P 500 index constituents. The weighted SMR value is a proprietary formula developed by Tickeron and represents an overall profitability measure for a stock.
The Tickeron Price Growth Rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating steady price growth. PANW’s price grows at a higher rate over the last 12 months as compared to S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron Valuation Rating of (best 1 - 100 worst) indicates that the company is slightly overvalued in the industry. This rating compares market capitalization estimated by our proprietary formula with the current market capitalization. This rating is based on the following metrics, as compared to industry averages: P/B Ratio (20.704) is normal, around the industry mean (29.955). P/E Ratio (43.226) is within average values for comparable stocks, (155.220). Projected Growth (PEG Ratio) (1.117) is also within normal values, averaging (2.725). Dividend Yield (0.000) settles around the average of (0.081) among similar stocks. P/S Ratio (13.038) is also within normal values, averaging (55.388).
The Tickeron PE Growth Rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), pointing to worse than average earnings growth. The PE Growth rating is based on a comparative analysis of stock PE ratio increase over the last 12 months compared against S&P 500 index constituents.
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
a provider of network security solutions
Industry PackagedSoftware