Bull of the Day: NetApp (NTAP)
Dazzling among the tech sector, NetApp’s NTAP stock has soared over +30% this year to impressively outperform the S&P 500 and Nasdaq’s +20% gains.
Providing storage and data management solutions, NetApp’s stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and lands the Bull of the Day.
Having lucerative cloud computing partnerships, let's take a deeper look at why now is a good time to buy NetApp's stock.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NetApp’s Consistency
As illustrated in the EPS surprise chart above, NetApp has now reached or exceeded the Zacks EPS Consensus for 18 consecutive quarters dating back to May of 2020.
Most recently, NetApp reported results for its fiscal first quarter in late August posting Q1 EPS of $1.56. This beat estimates by nearly 7% and spiked 36% from $1.15 a share in the comparative quarter.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Cloud Services Growth
Attributing to NetApp’s strong financial performance has been the growth of the company’s cloud storage operations. Notably, NetApp’s hybrid cloud segment revenue increased 8% last quarter to $1.38 billion which combines on-premise infrastructure (private cloud) with public cloud services.
Furthermore, NetApp’s high-performance file storage for enterprise workloads is fully integrated into Microsoft’s MSFT Azure cloud ecosystem. The “Azure NetApp Files” have helped to leverage NetApp’s position and innovation with its software also available in Amazon’s AMZN AWS Marketplace.
NetApp’s Attractive Outlook
Seeing steady top line expansion, NetApp’s total sales are now expected to rise 4% in its current fiscal 2025 and FY26 with projections edging toward $7 billion.
Even better, NetApp’s EPS is projected to increase 9% in FY25 and is forecasted to expand another 6% in FY26 to $7.54 per share. More intriguing is that earnings estimate revisions are noticeably higher in the last 30 days for both FY25 and FY26.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
Rising earnings estimates are a great sign that NetApp’s strong price performance can continue with NTAP trading at a reasonable 17.5X forward earnings multiple.
Considering the premium cloud providers and other innovative tech companies can command, now appears to be a great time to buy. NetApp's increased probability and lucrative cloud partnerships suggest NTAP is also a viable long-term investment.
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