Are Wall Road Analysts Predicting NetApp Inventory Will Climb or Sink?

NetApp, Inc. (NTAP), headquartered in San Jose, California, makes a speciality of superior cloud, on-premises, and hybrid knowledge options. The corporate develops unified knowledge storage {hardware} and software program, delivering environment friendly administration for community environments and enabling enterprises to maximise the potential of their knowledge.

NetApp’s expertise helps data-driven decision-making, cybersecurity, and scalable cloud integration, streamlining enterprise operations and fostering innovation for organizations worldwide. The corporate has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion.

Volatility in enterprise software program shares, together with cautious sentiments concerning IT spending, has led to a decline in inventory costs over the previous 12 months. Over the previous 52 weeks, the inventory has declined 9.3%. It had reached a 52-week low of $71.84 in April, however has bounced again and is now up 56.6% from that degree. Primarily based on better-than-expected outcomes, NetApp’s shares have gained 20.4% over the previous six months.

The inventory’s subdued efficiency has broadly underperformed the S&P 500 Index ($SPX), which has gained 14% over the previous 52 weeks and 20.7% over the previous six months. Turning our focus to the corporate’s personal tech sector, we see that the inventory has underperformed right here as nicely, whereas the Expertise Choose Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) is up 24.6% over the previous 52 weeks and 35.8% over the previous six months.

On Aug. 27, NetApp reported its first-quarter outcomes for fiscal 2026 (the quarter that ended on July 25). The corporate’s web revenues elevated by 1% year-over-year (YOY) to $1.56 billion, which was greater than the $1.54 billion that Wall Road analysts had anticipated. Whereas its non-GAAP EPS of $1.55 was 1% decrease than the prior 12 months’s interval, it was barely greater than the $1.54 that analysts had anticipated.

Final month, NetApp launched a knowledge breach detection functionality into its enterprise knowledge storage to counter the expansion in assault surfaces that synthetic intelligence (AI) has enabled in a manner. The cyber resilience capabilities are geared up with “AI-powered capabilities to detect early indicators of information exfiltration makes an attempt.” The corporate additionally launched NetApp AFX, a complete enterprise-grade knowledge platform for AI, to speed up fashionable AI workloads.

For the fiscal 12 months 2026, which ends in April 2026, Wall Road analysts anticipate NetApp’s EPS to develop 8.3% YOY to $6.27 on a diluted foundation. Furthermore, EPS is predicted to extend 13.2% yearly to $7.10 in fiscal 2027. The corporate has a strong historical past of surpassing consensus estimates, topping them in three of the 4 trailing quarters. NetApp is about to report its Q2 FY 2026 outcomes on Nov. 25 after the market closes. Wall Road analysts anticipate EPS to drop 1.3% YOY to $1.51 for the quarter.

Among the many 19 Wall Road analysts overlaying NetApp’s inventory, the consensus is a “Reasonable Purchase.” That’s based mostly on six “Robust Purchase” rankings and 13 “Holds.” The rankings configuration has remained the identical over the previous two months.

Final month, analysts at Citigroup maintained a “Impartial” score on NetApp’s inventory, whereas elevating the value goal from $115 to $130. Citigroup analysts anticipate investor sentiment to enhance for storage as a result of demand surrounding inference-led AI.

NetApp’s imply value goal of $121.73 signifies an 8.2% upside over present market costs. The Road-high value goal of $140 implies a possible upside of 24.4%.

On the date of publication, Anushka Mukherjee didn’t have (both instantly or not directly) positions in any of the securities talked about on this article. All data and knowledge on this article is solely for informational functions. This text was initially printed on Barchart.com