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Here's Why Zscaler (ZS) Fell More Than Broader Market

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In the latest close session, Zscaler (ZS - Free Report) was down 4.09% at $292.75. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.38% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.67%.

The stock of cloud-based information security provider has risen by 8.39% in the past month, leading the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 7.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.06%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Zscaler in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.85, up 10.39% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $773.35 million, up 23.15% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $3.66 per share and revenue of $3.27 billion, indicating changes of +11.59% and +22.3%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Zscaler. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 32% higher. Zscaler is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Zscaler is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 83.32. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 69.78, so one might conclude that Zscaler is trading at a premium comparatively.

Meanwhile, ZS's PEG ratio is currently 4.55. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Security industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.86.

The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 199, this industry ranks in the bottom 20% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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