ZS vs OKTA Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Zscaler focuses on zero trust network security, while Okta specializes in identity and access management, with both addressing critical but distinct layers of enterprise cybersecurity.
Investors weighing Zscaler against Okta are choosing between a faster-growing zero trust security leader and a more mature identity management platform working to rebuild trust and improve margins.
OKTA holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. OKTA leads on both 1-year return (+48.46%) and forward P/E quality (34.43x vs 39.93x for ZS), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, ZS is growing revenue faster (25.40%), while OKTA maintains the higher operating margin (7.32%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ZS (+4.99%) than for OKTA (-10.31%).
- Want exposure to the zero trust security growth category
- Believe in continued large enterprise adoption of cloud security
- Can tolerate premium valuation and slower path to profitability
- Are optimistic about platform expansion into new security areas
- Want exposure to the identity and access management category
- Value improving profitability over pure growth
- Believe the company has addressed past security concerns
- Prefer a more moderately valued cybersecurity name
| Metric | ZS | OKTA |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 48.8 | 51.8 |
| AI rank | #530 | #363 |
| Latest close | $181.74 | $135.14 |
| 1M return | +27.76% | -1.13% |
| 6M return | +7.55% | +65.21% |
| 1Y return | -33.62% | +48.46% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ZS | OKTA |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $6.72K (-32.8%) started 2025-08-21 | $15.05K (+50.5%) started 2025-08-21 |
| 5Y ago | $7.25K (-27.5%) started 2021-08-23 | $5.73K (-42.7%) started 2021-08-23 |
| 10Y ago | $55.07K (+450.7%) started 2018-03-16 | $57.48K (+474.8%) started 2017-04-07 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ZS | OKTA |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $29.69B | $25.62B |
| Trailing P/E | N/A | 106.06 |
| Forward P/E | 39.93 | 34.43 |
| Price/Sales | 8.60 | 8.60 |
| EV/Revenue | 8.83 | 7.83 |
| Analyst target | $192.77 | $132.23 |
| Target upside | +4.99% | -10.31% |
| Metric | ZS | OKTA |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 25.40% | 11.20% |
| Earnings growth | N/A | 21.20% |
| EPS growth | N/A | +21.20% |
| FCF margin | +34.94% | +32.64% |
| Operating margin | -3.28% | 7.32% |
| Profit margin | -2.44% | 8.24% |
| ROIC proxy | -3.71% | 3.67% |
| Return on equity | -3.71% | 3.67% |
| Dividend yield | N/A | N/A |
| Beta | 0.92 | 0.76 |
| Debt/equity | 78.94 | 5.96 |
| Current ratio | 1.86 | 1.43 |
| Quick ratio | 1.72 | 1.30 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | ZS | OKTA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -32.77% | +50.52% |
| CAGR | -32.81% | +50.61% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.39 | 0.91 | |
| Max drawdown | 64.89% | 33.70% | |
| Max daily drop | 31.52% | 10.89% | |
| Max wkly drop | 27.87% | 21.52% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -27.54% | -42.66% |
| CAGR | -6.25% | -10.54% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.10 | 0.02 | |
| Max drawdown | 76.41% | 83.43% | |
| Max daily drop | 31.52% | 33.70% | |
| Max wkly drop | 34.63% | 38.52% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +450.74% | +474.82% |
| CAGR | +22.42% | +20.52% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.56 | 0.53 | |
| Max drawdown | 76.41% | 84.57% | |
| Max daily drop | 31.52% | 33.70% | |
| Max wkly drop | 34.63% | 38.52% |
| Category | ZS | OKTA |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Zscaler, Inc. | Okta, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Infrastructure | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Zscaler provides a cloud-native zero trust security platform that secures user access to applications and the internet without traditional network perimeters. | Okta provides cloud-based identity and access management software that helps organizations secure and manage user authentication across applications. |
| Investor focus | Watch for large enterprise deal growth, expansion into newer security product lines, and progress toward sustained profitability. | Watch for net revenue retention trends, progress on profitability, and the durability of customer trust following past security incidents. |
- Early leadership position in the zero trust security category
- Cloud-native architecture scales efficiently with customer growth
- Expanding platform into adjacent security categories like data protection
- Leading position in the identity and access management category
- Broad integration ecosystem increases switching costs for customers
- Improving profitability as the company matures
- Premium valuation requires sustained high growth to justify
- Competition increasing from both established vendors and newer entrants
- Profitability has historically lagged revenue growth
- Past security incidents have raised questions about internal security practices
- Slowing growth as the identity management market matures
- Competition from larger platform vendors bundling identity features
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