Zacks Industry Outlook Spotlights NetScout Systems, Digi International, and Lantronix
Industry Growth Drivers: The Computer Networking industry is poised for growth due to advancements in cloud computing, network security, AI technology, and the rapid deployment of 5G, which is increasing demand for robust networking infrastructure and innovative products.
Key Players and Performance: Companies like NetScout Systems, Digi International, and Lantronix are capitalizing on the AI infrastructure opportunity, with strong revenue growth and positive market performance, as evidenced by their recent financial results and stock gains.
Macroeconomic Challenges: Despite the industry's bright prospects, concerns over global macroeconomic conditions, supply-chain volatility, and tariff issues, particularly between the U.S. and China, pose risks to pricing power and margin expansion.
Zacks Industry Rank: The Zacks Computer Networking industry ranks #38, indicating strong near-term prospects, with the industry outperforming the S&P 500 and broader technology sector over the past year.
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- 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.
- 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%.
- 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.

- 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.

- 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.
- 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.







