Bull Of The Day: Juniper Networks (JNPR)

As the internet continues to grow in importance and become more ubiquitous, the list of ways to invest in this quickly growing market is soaring as well.

But sometimes we forget the ‘backbone’ companies of the internet experience though, and instead we focus in on the sexier names like Facebook (FB) in the internet world. However, there are plenty of solid names in the infrastructure space that could actually make for great investments too. One such name in this space is Juniper Networks (JNPR - Analyst Report), a router specialist and a $10 billion market cap company that could be worth a closer look by investors.

JNPR in Focus

Juniper is a California-based giant that is best known for its routers, though it also has decent sized switching and security divisions too. The firm is pretty much entirely U.S.-focused though it does have about 10% exposure to the international market right now. This should at least protect the company from some of the currency issues that have plagued many other mid and large cap technology firms currently trading on the market.

The company has seen some solid trading as of late too, as shares have added nearly 20% in the past three months. This could definitely continue for the company and especially so following Ericsson (ERIC) buyout rumors and its latest decent earnings report.

Recent Earnings and Outlook

JNPR managed to match EPS projections for the most recent quarter while revenues slightly beat expectations and margins managed to improve further into double digit territory. However, it was the guidance that likely was a key for investor bullishness as we head further into the year as the company announced higher expectations for Non-GAAP earnings in the upcoming period.

Analysts seem to agree with this bullishness too as they have been universally raising their estimates for JNPR stock. In fact, we have seen five estimates go higher for both the current quarter and the current year compared to zero lower for either time frame.

The magnitude of these revisions has also been solid as the current year estimate has gone from $1.25/share 60 days ago to $1.33/share today. While this isn’t a gargantuan move, it is baking in EPS growth of nearly 50% (y/y) which is undoubtedly impressive.

For these reasons, it shouldn’t be surprising to note that JNPR is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock. This means that we are looking for outperformance from the company and that our models show that less than five percent of the entire stock universe is looking more promising than JNPR from an earnings estimate revision perspective.

Other Factors & Bottom Line

Besides these solid earnings estimate figures, we should also note that JNPR is well-positioned from both a growth and a momentum perspective as it has a ‘B’ grade for both. JNPR’s 12 week and 52 week price change both easily crush the industry average while its current cash flow growth of over 122% easily trounces the rest of the industry too.

So if you are looking for an impressive stock in an increasingly important industry make sure to give JNPR a closer inspection. Not only is the company seeing rising earnings estimates but it is also well-positioned from a growth look too, suggesting it could be a great choice for technology sector-focused investors this summer should current trends continue.