NET vs ZS: Cloudflare vs Zscaler — Which Cybersecurity Stock Wins?: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Cloudflare and Zscaler are both cloud-native security platforms riding the zero-trust enterprise security wave, but from different angles: Zscaler is a pure-play, deeply embedded zero-trust leader focused on secure access, while Cloudflare is a broader network and developer platform adding security as a pillar. Both compete for enterprise security budget and zero-trust architecture decisions.
Use this NET vs ZS comparison to choose your enterprise security cloud investment. Zscaler is the more focused zero-trust pure-play with deeper enterprise security penetration; Cloudflare is a broader platform with more product optionality including AI and developer infrastructure beyond security.
NET holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. NET has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+54.57% vs -17.14%), though ZS has the better forward P/E setup (40.07x vs 179.44x for NET). On fundamentals, NET is growing revenue faster (35.90%), while ZS maintains the higher operating margin (-3.28%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for NET (+11.24%) than for ZS (+7.95%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want a broader cloud platform with security, performance, and AI/developer infrastructure exposure
- Believe Cloudflare's network advantage creates a unique competitive moat versus software-only vendors
- Are comfortable with a longer profitability timeline in exchange for broader platform growth potential
- See Workers AI as an emerging inference revenue stream that could become significant over time
- Want a focused pure-play zero-trust enterprise security platform with deep customer penetration
- Believe zero-trust architecture will become the enterprise security standard and Zscaler will be the default choice
- Value the sticky government and regulated industry customer base providing durable ARR
- Are comfortable with a high multiple for what may be the defining enterprise security architecture of this decade
| Metric | NET | ZS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 68.9 | 55.1 |
| AI ranki | #50 | #499 |
| Latest closei | $325.73 | $255.15 |
| 1M returni | -7.55% | +18.98% |
| 3M returni | +24.25% | +79.28% |
| 6M returni | +57.30% | +88.30% |
| 1Y returni | +54.57% | -17.14% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | NET | ZS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $15K (+50.0%) started 2025-10-23 | $8K (-20.0%) started 2025-10-23 |
| 5Y ago | $17.2K (+72.0%) started 2021-10-25 | $8.2K (-18.0%) started 2021-10-25 |
| 10Y ago | $180.96K (+1709.6%) started 2019-09-13 | $77.32K (+673.2%) started 2018-03-16 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | NET | ZS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $106.77B | $29.79B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 179.44 | 40.07 |
| Price/Salesi | 42.56 | 8.60 |
| EV/Revenuei | 42.24 | 8.86 |
| Analyst targeti | $333.55 | $198.88 |
| Target upsidei | +11.24% | +7.95% |
| Metric | NET | ZS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 35.90% | 25.40% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growthi | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margini | +27.54% | +34.94% |
| Operating margini | -7.60% | -3.28% |
| Profit margini | -8.21% | -2.44% |
| ROIC proxyi | -14.43% | -3.71% |
| Return on equityi | -14.43% | -3.71% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | N/A | N/A |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.66 | 0.92 |
| Debt/equityi | 217.86 | 78.94 |
| Current ratioi | 1.82 | 1.86 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.75 | 1.72 |
Over the past year, NET and ZS have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.53), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | NET | ZS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +50.00% | -19.96% |
| CAGRi | +50.08% | -19.98% | |
| Volatilityi | 65.69% | 67.50% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.89 | -0.04 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.28 | -0.05 | |
| Max drawdowni | 36.76% | 64.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 9.75% | 24.12% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.84% | 44.15% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.79% | 47.00% | |
| Max daily dropi | 23.62% | 31.52% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.58% | 27.87% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +71.97% | -18.01% |
| CAGRi | +11.47% | -3.90% | |
| Volatilityi | 69.16% | 58.04% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.44 | 0.15 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.64 | 0.21 | |
| Max drawdowni | 82.58% | 76.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 9.75% | 30.81% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 47.29% | 47.20% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 53.91% | 49.88% | |
| Max daily dropi | 23.62% | 31.52% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.37% | 34.63% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1709.61% | +673.18% |
| CAGRi | +50.27% | +26.83% | |
| Volatilityi | 67.25% | 58.52% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.88 | 0.62 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.32 | 0.91 | |
| Max drawdowni | 82.58% | 76.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 9.75% | 30.81% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 35.95% | 33.53% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 45.67% | 40.25% | |
| Max daily dropi | 23.62% | 31.52% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.37% | 34.63% |
| Category | NET | ZS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Cloudflare, Inc. | Zscaler, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Infrastructure | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Global network-as-a-service and security platform providing DDoS protection, CDN, zero-trust security (SASE), serverless computing, and AI infrastructure. One of the world's largest networks by interconnection. | Cloud-native zero-trust security platform built on the Zero Trust Exchange architecture. Products include Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), and a growing AI-driven threat intelligence layer. |
| Investor focus | Large customer revenue growth, Workers AI platform adoption, SASE and zero-trust product expansion, net revenue retention, and path to GAAP profitability. | Annual recurring revenue and large deal expansion, Zscaler for Workloads adoption, AI-powered security platform differentiation, and operating margin improvement. |
- Unique global network with PoPs in 300+ cities creates a low-latency performance advantage over software-only security vendors
- Workers AI and developer platform represent a new AI inference revenue stream beyond security
- Broad platform approach across security, performance, and developer tools creates deep enterprise expansion potential
- Purpose-built zero-trust architecture is purpose-designed for cloud and remote work security — not retrofitted
- High net revenue retention as customers expand from ZIA to ZPA to data protection and AI security modules
- Government and highly regulated enterprise penetration provides sticky, long-cycle revenue
- Not yet GAAP profitable and requires continued strong execution to justify a high revenue multiple
- Competes with well-resourced incumbents across every product category (Zscaler, Palo Alto, Akamai)
- Developer platform monetisation is early and may take longer than expected to contribute materially
- Valuation remains elevated relative to near-term revenue growth
- Palo Alto Networks and other platform consolidators are aggressively bundling competitive zero-trust products
- Sales cycle length makes revenue lumpy and sensitive to macro IT spending slowdowns
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