Citizens Jmp Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Stock Price

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Citizens Jmp from $355.00 to $290.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Citizens Jmp’s target price points to a potential upside of 97.29% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Zscaler in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Zscaler from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Zscaler from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Zscaler from $350.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Zscaler from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.37.

Zscaler Stock Down 12.2%

ZS stock opened at $146.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -349.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 299.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $198.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Zscaler has a 12 month low of $140.56 and a 12 month high of $336.99.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.12. Zscaler had a negative net margin of 2.25% and a positive return on equity of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $815.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $798.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Zscaler’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Zscaler has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.010 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.990-4.020 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Zscaler will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Adam Geller sold 1,620 shares of Zscaler stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.79, for a total transaction of $377,119.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James A. Beer sold 653 shares of the business’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 sale, the director owned 3,485 shares in the company, valued at $790,119.20. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 19,350 shares of company stock valued at $4,471,509 in the last three months. 17.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zscaler

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Zscaler in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 145.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zscaler in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Zscaler in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 46.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Zscaler News

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.