Zscaler shares surge on earnings beat, better-than-expected outlook

SECURITY

Shares in Zscaler Inc. surged in late trading after the cybersecurity company delivered an earnings beat and a better-than-expected outlook.

For its fiscal fourth quarter ended July 31, Zscaler reported a profit before costs such as stock compensation of $36.4 million or 25 cents per share, up from $20.3 million or 14 cents per share in the same quarter of last year. Revenue jumped 61% from a year ago, to $318.1 million. Analysts had expected earnings of 21 cents per share on revenue of $305.4 billion.

Cash flow in Zscaler’s fiscal fourth quarter was $103.1 million or 32% of revenue, up from $44.7 million or 23% of revenue a year ago. Deferred revenue as of July 31 was $1.02 billion, up 62% year-over-year, and cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $1.73 billion.

Highlights in the quarter included the launch of Posture Control, a solution from Zscaler to give cloud-native unified application protection functionality designed to secure cloud workloads. Zscaler also launched advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning innovations that deliver enhanced monitoring to the company’s Zero Trust Exchange.

For Zscaler’s full fiscal year 2022, adjusted net income per share was 69 cents on revenue of $1.09 billion.

“Our customers are realizing immense value from the new, innovative services and advanced capabilities being integrated into our zero trust security platform,” Jay Chaudhry, chairman and chief executive officer of Zscaler, said in a statement. “Despite the uncertain macroeconomic landscape which continues to evolve, we continue to see favorable demand for our zero-trust exchange platform because it makes businesses more secure, simplifies IT and reduces cost.”

For its fiscal first quarter of 2023, Zscaler expects an adjusted profit of 26 cents per share on revenue of $339 million to $341 million. Analysts had expected 21 cents and $325.1 million.

For the full fiscal year 2023, the company predicts earnings per share of $1.16 to $1.18 on revenue of $1.49 million to $1.5 billion. Analysts had expected $1.04 and $1.47 billion.

With a strong earnings beat and better than expected outlook, investors liked the numbers. Shares in Zscaler surged more than 12% in extended trading.

Image: Zscaler