NetScout Q3 Earnings Exceed Expectations
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 3d ago
0mins
Should l Buy NTCT?
Source: seekingalpha
- Strong Earnings Performance: NetScout reported a Q3 non-GAAP EPS of $1.00, beating expectations by $0.18, which reflects the company's robust profitability and boosts investor confidence.
- Slight Revenue Decline: Revenue of $250.7 million, down 0.5% year-over-year, still exceeded market expectations by $17.01 million, indicating the company's ability to maintain relatively stable revenue in a competitive market.
- Stable Adjusted EBITDA: The adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was $91.7 million, representing 36.6% of quarterly revenue, slightly down from $92.8 million last year, highlighting challenges in cost management.
- Upgraded Financial Outlook: Based on accelerating orders and the current pipeline, NetScout raised its revenue outlook for FY 2026 to a range of $835 million to $870 million, reflecting confidence in future growth with an expected year-over-year increase of 3.6%.
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Analyst Views on NTCT
Wall Street analysts forecast NTCT stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for NTCT is 32.00 USD with a low forecast of 29.00 USD and a high forecast of 35.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
2 Analyst Rating
1 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 27.070
Low
29.00
Averages
32.00
High
35.00
Current: 27.070
Low
29.00
Averages
32.00
High
35.00
About NTCT
Netscout Systems, Inc. is a provider of enterprise performance management, carrier service assurance, cybersecurity, and defends their networks from distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection solutions. The Company’s nGeniusONE management software is used to support its service provider, enterprise, and government customers, enabling them to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems while facilitating the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures. Its ISNG platform provides real-time collection and analysis of information-rich, high-volume packet-flow data from across the network that is displayed through the nGeniusONE Service Assurance Solution. Its portfolio of DDoS solutions offers complete deployment flexibility spanning on-premises offerings and cloud-based capabilities to meet a broad array of customer needs, as well as specialized analytics and comprehensive threat intelligence information.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Strong Performance: NetScout reported total revenue of $250.7 million for Q3, consistent with last year and exceeding expectations, reflecting robust growth in both cybersecurity and service assurance segments.
- Improved Profitability: Diluted earnings per share reached $1, marking a 6.4% year-over-year increase, while gross profit margin stood at 82.8% and operating margin rose to 35.9%, indicating ongoing improvements in cost control and operational efficiency.
- Optimistic Outlook: The company raised its fiscal year 2026 revenue forecast to between $835 million and $870 million, representing a 3.6% year-over-year growth, and increased non-GAAP earnings per share guidance to between $2.37 and $2.45, reflecting management's confidence in future demand.
- Innovation-Driven Growth: The launch of the Omnis AI sensor and the upcoming nGenius Edge Sensor 795 showcases NetScout's technological expansion in remote observability and next-generation WiFi, further solidifying its market leadership position.
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- Strong Earnings Performance: NetScout reported a Q3 non-GAAP EPS of $1.00, beating expectations by $0.18, which reflects the company's robust profitability and boosts investor confidence.
- Slight Revenue Decline: Revenue of $250.7 million, down 0.5% year-over-year, still exceeded market expectations by $17.01 million, indicating the company's ability to maintain relatively stable revenue in a competitive market.
- Stable Adjusted EBITDA: The adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was $91.7 million, representing 36.6% of quarterly revenue, slightly down from $92.8 million last year, highlighting challenges in cost management.
- Upgraded Financial Outlook: Based on accelerating orders and the current pipeline, NetScout raised its revenue outlook for FY 2026 to a range of $835 million to $870 million, reflecting confidence in future growth with an expected year-over-year increase of 3.6%.
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- Earnings Announcement: NetScout Systems is set to release its Q3 earnings on February 5th before market open, with consensus EPS estimate at $0.82, reflecting a 12.8% year-over-year decline, and revenue estimate at $233.69 million, down 7.3% year-over-year, indicating some market challenges ahead.
- Historical Performance: Over the past two years, NetScout has beaten EPS and revenue estimates 88% of the time, demonstrating a level of stability and reliability in financial performance, despite current downward pressures.
- Estimate Revisions: In the last three months, there have been no upward revisions to EPS estimates, with two downward adjustments, and similarly, revenue estimates have seen no upward revisions and two downward adjustments, suggesting a cautious market outlook on the company's future performance.
- Market Demand Analysis: Despite the current unfavorable earnings outlook, NetScout has raised its FY26 revenue forecast to $870 million, driven by strong federal demand and accelerated orders, indicating growth potential in specific market segments.
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- Market Leadership: NETSCOUT has been awarded the 2025 Global Company of the Year for its outstanding achievements in real-time visibility, performance assurance, and network intelligence, highlighting its ability to deliver measurable outcomes in complex environments.
- Excellence in Strategy Execution: By effectively aligning with market demands, NETSCOUT has demonstrated excellence in both strategic effectiveness and execution, securing its leadership position in the rapidly evolving network monitoring landscape.
- Innovation-Driven Growth: NETSCOUT's nGenius and Omnis solutions provide end-to-end network and application performance monitoring, leveraging real network traffic to deliver high-fidelity insights that accelerate troubleshooting and support predictive automated operations, enhancing customer experience.
- Customer-First Culture: Through flexible licensing models and comprehensive global support services, NETSCOUT enhances customer experience, ensuring consistent service availability and long-term value across diverse industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and telecommunications.
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- Market Leadership: NETSCOUT has been awarded the 2025 Global Company of the Year for its outstanding performance in network monitoring, highlighting its sustained leadership in real-time visibility and network intelligence, thereby reinforcing its market position in complex hybrid cloud environments.
- Strategic Execution Excellence: Demonstrating exceptional strategic execution and alignment with market demands, NETSCOUT excelled in Frost & Sullivan's evaluation, showcasing its competitive advantage and market responsiveness in the network monitoring industry.
- Innovation-Driven Growth: NETSCOUT's nGenius and Omnis solutions provide end-to-end network performance monitoring through high-fidelity data, significantly accelerating troubleshooting and reducing mean time to resolution, thus enhancing operational efficiency and security for customers.
- Customer Experience Focus: By offering flexible licensing models and comprehensive global support services, NETSCOUT ensures that customers can scale their observability and cybersecurity capabilities in line with business growth, further solidifying its market influence across various sectors including healthcare and finance.
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- Executive Sale: NetScout COO Sanjay Munshi sold 2,000 shares on December 3 at $27.23 each, totaling $54,460, which represents a significant 24.23% reduction in his direct holdings, leaving him with 6,254 shares, potentially indicating a shift in confidence regarding the company's future.
- Transaction Context: This sale marks Munshi's only open-market transaction in the past year, entirely from directly held common stock without any derivatives or indirect holdings, highlighting a need for liquidity.
- Market Performance: The sale occurred when NetScout's stock had risen 22.96% over the past year, suggesting that the transaction was executed at a favorable price point, providing Munshi with a solid liquidity extraction opportunity.
- Company Outlook: NetScout's robust performance in network performance management and cybersecurity solutions, particularly amid rising demand for digital transformation and cybersecurity, may support its future stock price, despite the stock being flat over the past five years.
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