Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) vs. X3 (NASDAQ:XTKG) Critical Comparison

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) and X3 (NASDAQ:XTKG) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

46.5% of Zscaler shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.9% of X3 shares are held by institutional investors. 19.2% of Zscaler shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.9% of X3 shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Zscaler has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, X3 has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Zscaler and X3, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zscaler	0	8	26	1	2.80
X3	0	0	0	0	N/A

Zscaler currently has a consensus price target of $225.21, suggesting a potential upside of 35.87%. Given Zscaler’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Zscaler is more favorable than X3.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Zscaler and X3’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zscaler	$1.62 billion	15.49	-$202.34 million	($0.51)	-325.00
X3	$16.82 million	0.03	-$109.60 million	N/A	N/A

X3 has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Zscaler.

Profitability

This table compares Zscaler and X3’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zscaler	-3.62%	-5.84%	-1.36%
X3	N/A	N/A	N/A

About Zscaler

Zscaler, Inc. operates as a cloud security company worldwide. The company offers Zscaler Internet Access solution that provides users, workloads, IoT, and OT devices secure access to externally managed applications, including software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and internet destinations; and Zscaler Private Access solution, which is designed to provide access to managed applications hosted internally in data centers, and private or public clouds. It also provides Zscaler Digital Experience that measures end-to-end user experience across business applications, as well as provides an easy-to-understand digital experience score for each user, application, and location within an enterprise. In addition, the company offers Posture Control solutions comprising Cloud Security Posture Management that identifies and remediates application misconfigurations in SaaS, infrastructure as a service, and PaaS to reduce risk and ensure compliance with industry and organizational benchmarks; Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management that detects and remediates excessive or unused cloud permissions and enforces least privileged access without disrupting productivity; Infrastructure as Code (IaC), which analyzes IaC templates to identify misconfigurations and other security issues prior to deployment to cloud infrastructure; and Vulnerability Scanning and Data Loss Prevention solutions. Its platform modules include Zscaler Central Authority, Zscaler Enforcement Node, and Zscaler Log Servers. The company serves customers in airlines and transportation, conglomerates, consumer goods and retail, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, media and communications, public sector and education, technology, and telecommunications services industries. The company was formerly known as SafeChannel, Inc., and changed its name to Zscaler, Inc. in August 2008. Zscaler, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About X3

X3 Holdings Co Ltd. provides technology solutions and services worldwide. The company offers Global Trade Platform, a digital platform for trading partners, service providers, and government authorities. It also engages in bitcoin cryptomining operations, renewable energy projects, and agriculture technologies and trading. The company was formerly known as Powerbridge Technologies Co., Ltd. and changed its name to X3 Holdings Co Ltd. in January 2024. X3 Holdings Co Ltd. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Singapore.