Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Releases Q1 2027 Earnings Guidance

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) updated its first quarter 2027 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.150-1.160 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.860. The company issued revenue guidance of $935.0 million-$939.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $925.5 million. Zscaler also updated its FY 2027 guidance to 4.860-4.900 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Zscaler from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $210.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial set a $210.00 target price on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, FBN Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.10.

Zscaler Price Performance

Shares of ZS stock traded up $5.07 on Thursday, reaching $177.80. The company had a trading volume of 8,161,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,032. The business’s 50-day moving average is $159.43 and its 200 day moving average is $150.39. Zscaler has a one year low of $114.63 and a one year high of $336.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.75 billion, a PE ratio of -370.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 104.98 and a beta of 0.95.

Insider Activity at Zscaler

In related news, CFO Kevin Rubin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.22, for a total value of $372,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,204,942.22. This represents a 6.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jagtar Chaudhry sold 2,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.43, for a total transaction of $363,865.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 343,038 shares in the company, valued at $43,370,294.34. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 16,772 shares of company stock worth $2,139,799 in the last 90 days. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zscaler News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Zscaler this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and ARR beat expectations: Fiscal Q4 revenue rose 25% year over year to $898.2 million, exceeding the roughly $877 million consensus estimate. Annual recurring revenue also increased 25% to $3.77 billion, supported by strong large-deal activity, non-seat-based products and the Red Canary acquisition. Zscaler Announces Strong Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted earnings topped estimates: Non-GAAP earnings were $1.19 per diluted share, up from $0.89 a year earlier and above the $1.09 consensus. The company also reported a record 24% non-GAAP operating margin. The reported GAAP loss was $0.02 per share, which likely explains conflicting headlines citing a $0.14 EPS figure. Zscaler stock soars on earnings beat, upbeat guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance exceeded expectations: Zscaler forecast first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $935 million to $939 million, with adjusted EPS of $1.15 to $1.16. Full-year revenue guidance of $3.908 billion to $3.938 billion and ARR guidance of $4.396 billion to $4.426 billion point to continued growth, while management highlighted rising demand for AI and agentic-security tools. Zscaler beats sales expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity positioning remains favorable: Coverage of a Microsoft Exchange vulnerability highlighted Zscaler’s zero-trust platform as a potential tool for helping organizations reduce exposure to emerging threats. Microsoft Exchange Vulnerability and Zscaler
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader software shares also gained as Treasury yields pulled back and investors responded positively to recent technology-sector results, providing an additional tailwind for ZS. Software shares rise
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and restructuring risks remain: Zscaler posted a $3.4 million GAAP net loss for Q4 and announced plans to eliminate approximately 3% of its workforce while reallocating resources toward AI and growth initiatives. Quarterly free-cash-flow margin fell to 7% from 24%, largely because of significantly higher capital expenditures and internal-use software spending. Zscaler Loss Narrows as Revenue Soars

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zscaler

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Zscaler in the second quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Fairscale Capital LLC increased its position in Zscaler by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC now owns 438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Zscaler by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 652 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management bought a new position in Zscaler during the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 706 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.45% of the company’s stock.

About Zscaler

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.