TSC Ratings' Updates: Buckeye

Shares are down 18% on the year, in part reflecting the overall market's decline. Looking ahead, although the push and pull of the overall market trend could certainly make a critical difference, we do not see any strong reason stemming from the company's fundamentals that would cause a continuation of last year's decline. In fact, the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings.

We've upgraded NetScout Systems (NTCT), which designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells and supports network performance management solutions worldwide, from hold to buy, driven by its robust revenue growth, compelling growth in net income, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.

Revenue rose by 34.1% since the year-ago quarter, and net income grew 355.5%. EPS are up 322%. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently, but we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. NetScout's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.4 is low, but it's higher than that of the industry average. The company's quick ratio of 1.16 is sturdy.

Shares are up 53.6% on the year, outperforming the S&P 500. We feel that the stock's sharp appreciation over the last year has driven it to a price level which is now somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. The other strengths this company shows, however, justify the higher price levels.

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