Needham & Company LLC Cuts Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Price Target to $180.00

Posted by Jeff Wilder on Feb 27th, 2026

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS – Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $310.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 7.55% from the stock’s previous close.

ZS has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $330.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays set a $220.00 price target on Zscaler in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Capital One Financial set a $320.00 price target on Zscaler and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $305.00 price objective on Zscaler in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their target price on Zscaler from $365.00 to $209.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.45.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Zscaler

Zscaler Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ZS opened at $167.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of -643.67, a PEG ratio of 317.40 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $200.63 and its 200 day moving average is $256.06. Zscaler has a fifty-two week low of $141.56 and a fifty-two week high of $336.99. 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 (NASDAQ:ZS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.12. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 1.45% and a negative return on equity of 0.12%. The business had revenue of $815.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $798.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zscaler will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zscaler news, CFO Kevin Rubin sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total transaction of $762,398.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,116,522.02. This represents a 6.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jagtar Singh Chaudhry sold 2,843 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total transaction of $656,221.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 347,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,292,352.74. The trade was a 0.81% 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 three months. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zscaler

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZS. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new position in Zscaler during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zscaler by 145.7% during the third quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 86 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zscaler during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Zscaler in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.45% of the company’s stock.

More Zscaler News

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

(Get Free Report)

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.