NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Earns Buy Rating from TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen reaffirmed its Buy rating on NetApp and set a $200 price target, implying about 7% upside from the reported $186.86 share price. Overall analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average target of $193.43.
• NetApp reported strong fiscal Q1 FY2027 results, with revenue of roughly $2.02 billion and EPS of $2.58, beating estimates of $1.84 billion and $2.12, respectively. Revenue increased nearly 30% year over year, and management raised its fiscal-year EPS outlook to $9.73–$10.03.
• Despite the earnings beat and stronger guidance, the stock faced concerns over declining free cash flow, lower gross margins and expected sequential margin pressure from product mix and component costs. Insiders sold $8.7 million of shares during the latest quarter.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at TD Cowen in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price target on the data storage provider's stock. TD Cowen's price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.03% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on NTAP. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NetApp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $180.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on NetApp from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore set a $210.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.43.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NetApp stock traded up $6.09 on Thursday, reaching $186.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,385,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,699,630. NetApp has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $209.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.44. The business's 50 day moving average is $177.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.96.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,872,164.54. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total value of $533,283.84. Following the sale, the president owned 46,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,514,454.40. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,072 shares of company stock worth $8,719,520. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,869,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $458,060,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $28,136,000 after acquiring an additional 135,715 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in NetApp by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $19,374,000 after acquiring an additional 21,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 97,086 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $10,397,000 after purchasing an additional 17,520 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported fiscal Q1 FY2027 revenue of approximately $2.03 billion, up nearly 30% year over year and well above the roughly $1.84 billion consensus estimate. Non-GAAP EPS was $2.58, also comfortably ahead of expectations near $2.12. NetApp Stock Tanks Despite Strong Q1 Earnings Print
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal 2027 outlook to approximately $7.98 billion-$8.23 billion in revenue and $9.73-$10.03 in adjusted EPS. Second-quarter guidance also exceeds consensus, signaling continued demand from artificial intelligence, all-flash storage and hybrid-cloud customers. NetApp FY2027 Forecast and Raised EPS Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifted several price targets following the results. Morgan Stanley raised its target to $191, Susquehanna to $195, and Goldman Sachs maintained a $210 target and Buy rating, citing stronger guidance and cloud momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp announced that AWS Transform now supports migrations to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, potentially making it easier for enterprises to move storage and database workloads to AWS. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, payable October 28.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed: Morgan Stanley and Susquehanna kept Equal Weight or Neutral ratings despite higher targets, while Wedbush raised its target only to $170, below the recent trading level.
• Negative Sentiment: The post-earnings selloff reflects weaker free cash flow and profitability concerns. Operating cash flow was about $503 million and free cash flow $401 million, while gross margin declined and management warned that second-quarter gross margin would fall sequentially as product mix and component costs pressure results. NetApp Earnings and Free Cash Flow Decline

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc NASDAQ: NTAP is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp's offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company's product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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