NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $210.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.17 million. NetScout Systems had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 13.71%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. NetScout Systems updated its FY 2027 guidance to 2.650-2.800 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from NetScout Systems’ conference call:

• First-quarter revenue rose 13% to $210.4 million, while non-GAAP EPS increased to $0.52 from $0.34; gross margin expanded to 80.6% and operating margin improved to 20.8%.
• Service assurance revenue grew approximately 20%, supported partly by government orders and demand for Omnis Sensor and Omnis Streamer; management said the company has a solid pipeline for these AI-related offerings.
• Government-related orders totaling roughly $10 million to $15 million were pulled into the first quarter, and management expects second-quarter revenue to be broadly consistent with the prior year, resulting in only mid-single-digit first-half growth.
• Cybersecurity revenue increased just 0.6% year over year against a difficult prior-year comparison, although the DigiCert DDoS asset acquisition and capacity expansion doubled mitigation capability to 30 terabits per second and could improve recurring revenue margins over time.
• NetScout reaffirmed its fiscal 2027 outlook of $885 million to $915 million in revenue and $2.65 to $2.80 in non-GAAP EPS, while continuing to invest in AI-ready Smart Data, observability, cybersecurity, and adaptive DDoS protection.

NetScout Systems Price Performance

Shares of NetScout Systems stock traded down $1.69 on Friday, hitting $38.44. 763,675 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 518,361. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.39. NetScout Systems has a one year low of $21.21 and a one year high of $45.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44 and a beta of 0.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetScout Systems news, Director Alfred Grasso sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.67, for a total value of $203,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,450. The trade was a 12.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.29, for a total value of $322,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 129,121 shares in the company, valued at $5,202,285.09. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 4.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in NetScout Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in NetScout Systems by 1,936.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in NetScout Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in NetScout Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTCT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut NetScout Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NetScout Systems in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

NetScout Systems Company Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout’s flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.