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 (+32.83% vs -36.70%), 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 | 64.8 | 51.9 |
| AI ranki | #77 | #339 |
| Latest closei | $278.92 | $169.80 |
| 1M returni | -4.79% | +5.04% |
| 6M returni | +42.90% | +3.50% |
| 1Y returni | +32.83% | -36.70% |
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 | $13.01K (+30.1%) started 2025-09-05 | $6.19K (-38.1%) started 2025-09-05 |
| 5Y ago | $21.25K (+112.5%) started 2021-09-07 | $6K (-40.0%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $154.96K (+1449.6%) started 2019-09-13 | $51.45K (+414.5%) 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 |
| 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 0.51), 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 | +30.08% | -38.07% |
| CAGRi | +30.17% | -38.16% | |
| Volatilityi | 62.81% | 62.90% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.67 | -0.50 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.94 | -0.62 | |
| Max drawdowni | 36.76% | 64.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 15.69% | 49.50% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.62% | 39.07% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.63% | 44.72% | |
| Max daily dropi | 23.62% | 31.52% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.58% | 27.87% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +112.46% | -39.98% |
| CAGRi | +16.29% | -9.72% | |
| Volatilityi | 69.12% | 56.98% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.50 | 0.03 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.73 | 0.04 | |
| Max drawdowni | 82.58% | 76.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 15.69% | 53.96% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 47.28% | 46.09% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 53.93% | 49.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 23.62% | 31.52% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.37% | 34.63% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1449.56% | +414.55% |
| CAGRi | +48.11% | +21.33% | |
| Volatilityi | 67.34% | 58.23% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.85 | 0.55 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.28 | 0.79 | |
| Max drawdowni | 82.58% | 76.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 15.69% | 53.96% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 36.55% | 33.35% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 46.11% | 40.17% | |
| 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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