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

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) had its target price cut by Needham & Company LLC from $310.00 to $180.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ZS. Berenberg Bank dropped their price objective on Zscaler from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Zscaler from $260.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Zscaler from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $228.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $355.00 price objective on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zscaler currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.37.

Zscaler Trading Down 12.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ZS opened at $146.99 on Friday. Zscaler has a 1-year low of $140.56 and a 1-year high of $336.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $198.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -349.98, a PEG ratio of 217.30 and a beta of 1.07.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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 for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Zscaler will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zscaler

In other news, Director James A. Beer sold 653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.72, for a total transaction of $148,048.16. Following the sale, the director owned 3,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $790,119.20. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Adam Geller sold 1,620 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.79, for a total transaction of $377,119.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,762,413.12. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,350 shares of company stock worth $4,471,509. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zscaler

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in Zscaler by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 8.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 9.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the second quarter valued at about $252,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zscaler by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.45% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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

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.