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

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14, FiscalAI reports. NetScout Systems had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $210.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. NetScout Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 NASDAQ:NTCT traded down $1.69 on Friday, hitting $38.44. 763,675 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 518,361. NetScout Systems has a 12 month low of $21.21 and a 12 month high of $45.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.29, for a total value of $322,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 129,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,202,285.09. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, Director Alfred Grasso sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.67, for a total transaction of $203,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,450. This represents a 12.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 4.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetScout Systems

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

About NetScout Systems

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.