Larry A. Watts 
Palo Alto Networks PANW recently announced that its Internet of Things (“IoT”) security solution has been granted “Moderate Clearance” status for the Federal Risk and Clearance Management Program (“FedRAMP”).
This recognition clearly underscores the trust the United States government places in Palo Alto’s Zero Trust standardized threat prevention and enforcement capabilities. This move will allow government agencies to protect all of their unmanaged IoT devices with machine learning (“ML”) powered visibility at scale in less time. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is PANW’s sponsoring agency.
FedRAMP Ready status is significant progress for Palo Alto, based in Santa Clara, Calif., as it shows support for modernizing the federal sector by providing federal agencies with protection from cyberattacks and ensuring a secure environment. With the move, the company will ensure the security and compliance of business-critical AI applications and protect them against evolving cyber threats.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Pricing and Consensus
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Quote from Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
Palo Alto IoT Security offers the industry’s smartest IoT security solution, enabling businesses to prevent threats and control risk from IoT, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), Operational Technology (OT) and Bluetooth devices on their network. It uses an ML-based approach to quickly and accurately discover and identify all IoT devices in real time. The product uses crowdsourced data to identify anomalous activity, continuously assess risk, and provide trust-based policy recommendations to improve enterprise security.
Combined with the ML-powered Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) platform, IoT Security can block vulnerabilities and automatically enforce policies directly or through integrations, reducing the strain on federal agency teams operating manually and ensuring device safety.
It is crucial for federal agencies to effectively detect and respond to advanced cyber threats and protect data on endpoints, networks and cloud environments. These requirements are met with the help of Palo Alto’s cloud-based technology services, with IoT security being an addition.
Zacks ranking and key picks
Palo Alto currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of PANW have jumped 65.2% over the past year.
Some top-ranked stocks overall IT and technology sector are Yelp YELP and Go Go GOGO, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Analog devices ADI carrying a Zacks rank of 2 (buy). You can see the full list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Zacks’ consensus estimate for Yelp’s Q1 2022 loss has been revised south by a few cents to 11 cents per share in the past 60 days. For 2022, earnings estimates have moved north 53.6% to $1.06 per share in the past 60 days.
Yelp’s revenue has exceeded Zacks’ consensus estimate in the previous four quarters, with the average surprise being 632.9%. Shares of YELP have fallen 16.6% over the past year.
Zacks’ consensus estimate for Gogo’s Q1 2022 earnings was revised down a penny to 13 cents per share over the past 30 days. For 2022, Gogo’s earnings estimates have moved 25% to 65 cents per share in the past 60 days.
Gogo’s earnings have exceeded the Zacks consensus estimate in each of the previous four quarters, with the average surprise being 65%. Shares of GOGO have soared 97.6% over the past year.
Zacks’ consensus estimate for Analog Devices’ second-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings was revised up 4 cents to $2.12 per share in the past 30 days. For fiscal 2022, earnings estimates have moved north 11 cents to $8.43 per share in the past 30 days.
Earnings for Analog Devices have exceeded the Zacks consensus estimate in each of the previous four quarters, with the average surprise being 6%. Shares of ADI are down 0.2% over the past year.
Zacks names ‘only one best choice for doubling up’
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts have each picked their favorite to skyrocket by +100% or more in the coming months. Of these 5, Research Director Sheraz Mian selects one to have the most explosive advantage of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% year-on-year, but still very cheap. With relentless demand, rising earnings estimates for 2022 and $1.5 billion for stock buybacks, retail investors could step in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks stocks which are expected to double, such as Boston Beer Company which jumped +143.0% in just over 9 months and NVIDIA which jumped +175.9% in one. year.
Free: See our best stock and our 4 finalists >>
Click to get this free report
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI): Free Inventory Analysis Report
Yelp Inc. (YELP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): Free Stock Analysis Report
Gogo Inc. (GOGO): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com, click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
