Palo Alto Networks (PANW) ended the recent trading session at $362.35, demonstrating a -1.12% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.27%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.65%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.26%.

Heading into today, shares of the security software maker had gained 9.14% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 2% in that time.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Palo Alto Networks in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.48, up 7.25% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.12 billion, indicating a 12.81% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.26 per share and revenue of $9.13 billion, which would represent changes of +10.41% and +13.75%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Palo Alto Networks. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.06% higher. Currently, Palo Alto Networks is carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at valuation, Palo Alto Networks is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 58.51. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 31.88, which means Palo Alto Networks is trading at a premium to the group.

We can additionally observe that PANW currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.03. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Internet - Software industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.1.