Juniper Networks (JNPR) shares rallied 8.5% in the last trading session to close at $39.93. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 2.5% gain over the past four weeks.
The uptrend in shares was primarily attributable to the settlement reached by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper with the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement paved the way for Hewlett Packard Enterprise to acquire Juniper and resolved the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit, which raised concerns that the transaction would eliminate competition, raise prices and reduce innovation.
Per the settlement, Hewlett Packard Enterprise will divest its global Instant On campus and branch business and facilitate limited access to Juniper’s advanced Mist AIOps technology once the deal closes.
This computer network equipment maker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +61.3%. Revenues are expected to be $1.33 billion, up 12.2% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For Juniper, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on JNPR going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Juniper is a member of the Zacks Wireless Equipment industry. One other stock in the same industry, Nokia (NOK), finished the last trading session 0.2% higher at $5.18. NOK has returned -1% over the past month.
Nokia's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.07. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +16.7%. Nokia currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
