Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Issues Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) issued an update on its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.000-1.010 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 0.950. The company issued revenue guidance of $834.0 million-$836.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $831.4 million. Zscaler also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 3.990-4.020 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ZS. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Zscaler from $260.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Zscaler from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Zscaler from $345.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Macquarie Infrastructure initiated coverage on Zscaler in a research note on Friday, October 31st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Zscaler from $310.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.37.

Zscaler Trading Down 12.2%

NASDAQ:ZS traded down $20.37 on Friday, reaching $146.99. 11,080,725 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,018,555. The business has a fifty day moving average of $198.92 and a 200-day moving average of $255.20. 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 has a 52-week low of $140.56 and a 52-week high of $336.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -349.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 341.17 and a beta of 1.02.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $815.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $798.92 million. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 2.25% and a positive return on equity of 0.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. As a group, analysts expect that Zscaler will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zscaler news, insider Robert Schlossman sold 3,084 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 transaction of $711,848.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,773,601.64. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Raj Judge sold 3,438 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total value of $793,559.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 70,394 shares in the company, valued at $16,248,343.08. This trade represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,350 shares of company stock worth $4,471,509. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Zscaler

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 Trading of Zscaler

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Zscaler by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,582,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,945,000 after purchasing an additional 354,763 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Zscaler by 43.3% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Zscaler by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,337,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,774,000 after purchasing an additional 77,800 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zscaler by 61.8% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,557,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,345,000 after buying an additional 315,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.