Netscout rises on new product, upgrade

NetScout Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: NTCT) was up 3.56 to 20 Tuesday after an upgrade praised its prospects with the release of its new nGenious product.

Deutsche Banc Alex Brown said on Tuesday that it upgraded its investment rating to "strong buy" from "buy," citing its position in the fast-growing network management market. Analyst James Wade said the company is well positioned in the infrastructure performance management market, which is growing at a 35 percent rate.

NetScout's introduction of the nGenious platform puts the company in the field of e-business and service provider markets. A research report from Wade also said NetScout's acquisition of NextPoint Networks "will enhance NetScout's value proposition to include advanced application service level management, historical reporting and predictive analysis."

NetScout shares are trading 29 times calendar 2000 earnings estimates of $0.57 a share and 23 times next year's estimate of 73 cents share, which puts it at a big discount to its peers, Wade said.

The company's nGenius products combine technologies from NetScout and recently acquired NextPoint Networks, and work together to keep a company's e-business network and its applications up and running at maximum performance. NetScout is shipping the new system today with plans for additional product offerings in the upcoming months.