BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Stock Price

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $315.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 25.48% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ZS. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Zscaler from $365.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Zscaler from $330.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Zscaler in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Zscaler from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $228.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Zscaler from $350.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.68.

Zscaler Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ZS opened at $167.36 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $200.63 and a 200-day moving average of $256.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Zscaler has a twelve month low of $141.56 and a twelve month high of $336.99. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of -643.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 317.40 and a beta of 1.02.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $815.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $798.92 million. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.45% and a negative return on equity of 0.12%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zscaler will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zscaler

In other Zscaler news, Director James A. Beer sold 653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.72, for a total value of $148,048.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,485 shares in the company, valued at $790,119.20. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Schlossman sold 2,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.79, for a total transaction of $546,823.71. Following the sale, the insider owned 74,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,378,471.87. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 19,350 shares of company stock valued at $4,471,509 in the last ninety days. 17.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zscaler

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZS. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of Zscaler by 76,352.6% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,750,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,385,000 after acquiring an additional 4,743,787 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zscaler by 314.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,171,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,932,000 after buying an additional 888,888 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Zscaler by 8.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,363,909,000 after acquiring an additional 824,626 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 valued at $578,576,000 after purchasing an additional 777,414 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,941,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,083,000 after purchasing an additional 741,756 shares during the period. 46.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zscaler News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Zscaler this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zscaler beat consensus on revenue and adjusted EPS, delivered 26% revenue growth and ARR up ~25% to $3.36B — proof of durable subscription demand. Zscaler Announces Strong Second-Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results; Raises Fiscal 2026 ARR Guidance to 24%
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted AI security expansion (AI Guard, agentic ops) and continued product traction — investors see AI monetization as a new growth pillar that can offset SaaS-seat risk. Zscaler’s AI-Powered Security: A Compelling Case For Aggressive Growth Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Zscaler opened an AI & Cyber Threat Research Center in India with Bharti Airtel — expands on‑the‑ground footprint in a large market and supports long‑term enterprise/government adoption. Zscaler Airtel AI Cyber Center Opens As Shares Trade Below Targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views are mixed post‑print: some firms reiterated buy ratings while others issued cautious/negative forecasts — leaves short‑term direction sensitive to guidance and execution. Rosenblatt Securities Reiterates Buy Rating for Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS)
• Negative Sentiment: Despite beats, Zscaler reported a wider GAAP net loss driven by increased S&M and R&D spending and noted acquisition-related churn — that helped trigger an after‑hours selloff. Zscaler posts wider quarterly loss on higher spending; shares down 9%
• Negative Sentiment: Citation of a reduced/uncertain fiscal revenue outlook in some reports amplified investor concern, prompting volatility even though ARR and adjusted results were solid. ZScaler Stock Drops After Q2 Earnings, Lowered Revenue Guidance

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.