Zscaler reported financial results that exceeded Wall Street estimates, though its share price declined on the day of announcement. The cloud security firm’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue reached approximately $719 million, representing 25% growth compared to the prior year period. The company posted a net loss of $3.4 million, or 2 cents per share, an improvement from a net loss of $17.6 million, or 11 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Annual recurring revenue climbed 25% year-over-year to $3.77 billion, surpassing a StreetAccount estimate of $3.75 billion. Chief Executive Jay Chaudhry attributed the quarterly performance to growing adoption of the company’s Zero Trust cloud security architecture and technological innovations. Chaudhry expressed particular optimism regarding a newly launched Zero Trust offering designed for artificial intelligence agents, stating he expected momentum in this area to accelerate significantly in coming fiscal years. He characterized the opportunity as substantial and noted considerable barriers to entry that could benefit the company’s competitive position.
Bookings related to artificial intelligence security totaled $100 million over the past year, with sequential growth exceeding 50% in the most recent quarter. Cybersecurity stocks broadly have experienced substantial gains throughout the year as organizations seek to address evolving threats including sophisticated cyber attacks and agent-led threats. Zscaler’s stock, however, has underperformed this trend, declining 20% during the year after falling sharply in the previous quarter when management adopted a conservative guidance approach following departures of two sales leaders.
The company’s forward guidance also exceeded analyst expectations. For the upcoming fiscal first quarter, Zscaler projected revenue between $935 million and $939 million alongside adjusted earnings per share of $1.15 to $1.16, comparing favorably to consensus estimates of $927 million in revenue and $1.08 in adjusted EPS. Full-year guidance called for revenue in the range of $3.91 billion to $3.94 billion, exceeding the $3.90 billion estimate, with adjusted EPS expected between $4.86 and $4.90 against a $4.60 per-share consensus view.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI