Piper Sandler Cuts Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Price Target to $185.00

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) had its price objective cut by Piper Sandler from $260.00 to $185.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ZS. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Zscaler from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Zscaler from $360.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wedbush increased their price target on Zscaler from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Zscaler in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $220.00 target price on Zscaler in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zscaler currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.37.

Zscaler Stock Performance

Shares of ZS opened at $146.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $198.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.90. Zscaler has a 52-week low of $140.56 and a 52-week high of $336.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -349.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 217.30 and a beta of 1.07.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $815.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $798.92 million. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 2.25% and a positive return on equity of 0.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Zscaler has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.010 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.990-4.020 EPS. Research analysts predict that Zscaler will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zscaler

In other news, CEO Jagtar Singh Chaudhry sold 2,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total value of $656,221.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 347,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,292,352.74. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raj Judge sold 3,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.82, for a total transaction of $793,559.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 70,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,248,343.08. This trade represents a 4.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have 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 and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZS. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Zscaler during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Zscaler during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 46.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zscaler News Summary

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.