GrowthTurtle
Data Science PhD & IEEE Fellow, Ex-Two Sigma
Zscaler's enforcement layer looks undervalued, since AI commoditizes tools that produce answers but strengthens tools that enforce decisions. As a cloud proxy every user session must pass through, replacing it means re-architecting traffic, not swapping vendors. It trades at 8.6 times EV/sales on 25% growth, 47% below its 52-week high, with $1.11B of free cash flow and net cash. The case fails if Palo Alto, Netskope or Cisco make enforcement a checkbox in a platform bundle. x.comÂ
Zscaler's AI-era cybersecurity thesis is now showing up in bookings. Q3 beat across every line: ARR crossed $3.5B, up 25% or 21% excluding Red Canary, and non-GAAP operating margin hit a record 23%. AI Protect bookings topped $100M, Data Security ARR passed $500M, and Zero Trust Everywhere customers rose from 550+ to 700+. Partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI and the planned Symmetry Systems deal for AI agent identity add catalysts; a preliminary 16-17% FY27 outlook sets a credible bar. x.comÂ
Zscaler stands to benefit as AI's growth raises security needs, a point Elon Musk and Dario Amodei just emphasized, making large pullbacks in the sector a buying opportunity. Q2 revenue was $898M, up 25% year over year, ARR reached $3.77B, AI security bookings rose 50% sequentially, the Z-Flex program reached $770M in quarterly contract value, and non-GAAP operating margin hit a record 24.3%. x.comÂ
Zscaler should sell off on its guide for 9.5% organic ARR growth in fiscal 2027. That makes it a slow-moving software company with excellent dollar-based net retention but a withering growth engine, not an AI winner. x.comÂ
Zscaler looks like the better cybersecurity buy for the next three years because its valuation has diverged sharply from CrowdStrike's. Zscaler trades at 5.7x next-twelve-month revenue with 17-18% expected annual growth, versus CrowdStrike at 31.1x revenue and 150x earnings with 21-22% growth, probably the biggest gap ever between them. A 25% CAGR over 3-5 years is hard to model for CrowdStrike at that price. Zscaler has been beaten up for good reasons. x.com x.comÂ
Zscaler holds a near-monopoly in public-sector zero trust and is becoming the default way to secure enterprise AI traffic. Early-July procurement updates show it renewed and expanded zero-trust contracts with the Department of Defense and core federal agencies, backed by top-tier FedRAMP High certification. As AI agents and model queries create data-leak risk, adoption of its AI data and zero-trust gateway products surged 85% sequentially, and LLM providers co-recommend it. x.comÂ
Zscaler is not cheap at 40x earnings, about double an initial guess of 20x. @StockSavvyShay pulled up the real figure live on air ahead of Zscaler's Thursday report. x.comÂ
Zscaler's 31% drop is a mispricing, because AI agents multiply endpoints and attack surface, raising demand for the zero-trust security that Zscaler leads. The selloff came the same day Robinhood opened trading to AI agents, so the market is selling a picks-and-shovels name of the AI era while celebrating that era, exactly the setup for +200% trades. x.comÂ
Zscaler is a no-brainer at this price, and selling it on a small Q4 revenue guidance miss makes no sense. Q3 beat on revenue ($850M vs $836M), EPS, operating income and ARR ($3.53B), and Q4 EPS guidance of $1.09 topped the $1.04 estimate, while revenue guidance was $877M versus $879M, per @StockSavvyShay. x.com x.comÂ
Zscaler's forward guide was gross and undercuts management's credibility. CEO Jay Chaudhry claimed that once growth fell below 30%, the company would see operating leverage every year; that promise now looks false. x.comÂ
Zscaler could get a catch-up trade if money starts rotating into cybersecurity laggards, with CrowdStrike up eight days in a row. x.comÂ
