The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Stock Price

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) had its price objective cut by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $290.00 to $257.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 66.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of Zscaler in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Zscaler from $350.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Zscaler from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zscaler in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.92.

Zscaler Stock Performance

Shares of ZS stock opened at $154.67 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $195.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a PE ratio of -368.26, a P/E/G ratio of 210.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Zscaler has a 52 week low of $140.56 and a 52 week high of $336.99.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. Zscaler had a positive return on equity of 0.06% and a negative net margin of 2.25%.The business had revenue of $815.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $798.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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, research analysts predict that Zscaler will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Raj Judge sold 3,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 70,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,248,343.08. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $148,048.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,119.20. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,350 shares of company stock worth $4,471,509. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zscaler

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Zscaler by 76,352.6% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,750,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,385,000 after buying an additional 4,743,787 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 888,888 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 8.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,363,909,000 after acquiring an additional 824,626 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 777,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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. Institutional investors own 46.45% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Zscaler

Here are the key news stories impacting Zscaler this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an “Overweight” rating and a $200 price target, giving the stock meaningful upside from current levels. Zscaler receives Overweight rating as Wells Fargo initiates coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Reported FQ2 2026 results topped estimates: revenue ~$816M (+26% YoY), ARR growth ~25% to ~$3.4B, and EPS ahead of consensus — management set FY26 EPS guidance (3.99–4.02). These fundamentals support renewed investor confidence. Zscaler (ZS) Reports Record FQ2 2026 Revenue Driven by Massive Enterprise Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI and partner initiatives: Zscaler and Bharti Airtel launched a national AI & Cyber Threat Research Center in India to accelerate AI‑driven security research and talent development, and Zscaler expanded AI/security platform integrations with TCS (AI‑driven workspace platform). These deals deepen enterprise reach in high‑growth markets. Zscaler Airtel AI Research Hub Tests Growth Potential Versus Rising Losses TCS, Zscaler launch AI-driven workspace platform for enterprises
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights Zscaler as oversold and potentially a rebound candidate given strong secular cybersecurity demand and institutional accumulation — this narrative can attract value/technical buyers. 2 Bad News Buys: Why Palo Alto and Zscaler Are Screaming Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor interest/flow signals and options activity are drawing attention (coverage and “whale” option trades), which can amplify moves but are not a directional fundamental change. This Is What Whales Are Betting On Zscaler
• Neutral Sentiment: Zscaler presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference — useful for incremental investor color but no single headline change from the event. Zscaler Presents at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Numerous sell‑side firms have trimmed price targets recently (Morgan Stanley, Mizuho, RBC, BMO, Piper Sandler, Needham, Oppenheimer, etc.), signaling more cautious near‑term analyst sentiment despite some buy/overweight calls — this broad re‑rating is a headwind for the stock. Mizuho Cuts Zscaler Price Target (example of broader cuts)

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.