Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.990-4.020 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.310. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.3 billion-$3.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.3 billion. Zscaler also updated its Q3 2026 guidance to 1.000-1.010 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Zscaler from $360.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Capital One Financial set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Zscaler and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zscaler from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Zscaler from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.37.

Zscaler Stock Down 12.2%

ZS stock traded down $20.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $146.99. 11,080,725 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,018,555. Zscaler has a 1 year low of $140.56 and a 1 year high of $336.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -349.98, a PEG ratio of 341.17 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $815.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $798.92 million. Zscaler had a positive return on equity of 0.06% and a negative net margin of 2.25%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Zscaler has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.010 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.990-4.020 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Zscaler will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Raj Judge sold 3,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total value of $793,559.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 70,394 shares in the company, valued at $16,248,343.08. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Adam Geller sold 2,060 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total transaction of $475,489.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,148 shares in the company, valued at $12,036,801.36. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,350 shares of company stock worth $4,471,509. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Zscaler News

Here are the key news stories impacting Zscaler this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat: adjusted EPS $1.01 vs. $0.89 est., revenue $815.8M vs. ~$799M est., and ARR grew ~25% year/year — signals demand momentum. GlobeNewswire: Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management is pitching AI security growth and new initiatives (AI Guard, agentic security, India AI/Cyber center with Airtel) as durable secular drivers that expand TAM beyond seat-based SaaS. CFO Interview Airtel AI Center
• Neutral Sentiment: Management issued updated forward guidance and commentary (Q3 EPS range and FY EPS range were provided), creating mixed signals that markets are parsing. Earnings Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Executives (CEO & CFO) gave interviews and the full call transcript is available — useful for investors wanting detail on churn, acquisitions and how AI monetization will scale. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Wider GAAP loss and higher spending: the company posted a larger net loss driven by increased sales, marketing and R&D, which pressured investor sentiment. Reuters: Wider Loss
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed/uncertain revenue outlook commentary: some outlets reported the company lowered aspects of its revenue outlook, creating confusion and weighing on the stock despite EPS beats. Benzinga: Revenue Guidance Report
• Negative Sentiment: Broad analyst price‑target cuts today from multiple firms (Canaccord, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, Berenberg, Needham, and others) have amplified selling pressure even as many kept “buy/outperform” stances — the cuts compress perception of near‑term upside. MarketScreener: Analyst Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: investors appear to be focusing on margin/expense trajectory, competitive pressure and near-term revenue clarity rather than the company’s AI growth story — producing the stock decline. Seeking Alpha: Market Reaction

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zscaler

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Zscaler by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,572,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,576,000 after buying an additional 777,414 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 61.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,941,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,083,000 after acquiring an additional 741,756 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the third quarter valued at approximately $109,440,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Zscaler by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,582,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,945,000 after acquiring an additional 354,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,557,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,345,000 after acquiring an additional 315,498 shares during the period. 46.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zscaler Company Profile

Zscaler is a cloud security company that delivers a cloud-native platform to protect users, applications and data as organizations move away from traditional, network-centric security architectures. The company focuses on a zero trust approach that assumes no implicit trust for users or devices, providing secure access to the internet, SaaS applications and private applications regardless of where users are located. Zscaler positions its services as an alternative to legacy appliances and site-centric VPNs, aiming to simplify security while enabling modern, distributed workforces.

Key offerings are built around the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, a multi-tenant cloud platform that enforces security and access policies in-line.