ZS vs PANW Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Zscaler is generally evaluated as a pure-play, cloud-native zero trust security leader with high net revenue retention, while Palo Alto Networks is assessed as a broader, diversified security platform pursuing a platformization strategy to consolidate customer security stacks. The comparison contrasts a focused category leader against a diversified platform consolidator in cybersecurity.
Use this comparison to weigh Zscaler's focused zero trust category leadership against Palo Alto Networks' broader platform consolidation strategy across cybersecurity categories.
PANW holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. PANW has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+71.91% vs -24.67%), though ZS has the better forward P/E setup (40.07x vs 90.43x for PANW). PANW leads on both revenue growth (31.10%) and operating margin (-2.46%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ZS (+7.95%) than for PANW (-2.04%).
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 focused exposure to zero trust and cloud security adoption
- Believe net revenue retention and platform expansion will remain strong
- Are comfortable paying a premium valuation for sustained growth
- Value a pure-play category leader over a diversified platform
- Want diversified exposure across network, cloud, and SOC security categories
- Believe the platformization strategy will drive durable customer consolidation
- Value established enterprise relationships supporting broad cross-sell
- Are comfortable with near-term margin trade-offs from platform deal structures
| Metric | ZS | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 54.5 | 67.4 |
| AI ranki | #659 | #48 |
| Latest closei | $247.82 | $380.57 |
| 1M returni | +24.94% | -2.02% |
| 3M returni | +67.01% | +16.85% |
| 6M returni | +89.64% | +112.23% |
| 1Y returni | -24.67% | +71.91% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ZS | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $7.72K (-22.8%) started 2025-10-29 | $17.52K (+75.2%) started 2025-10-29 |
| 5Y ago | $7.77K (-22.3%) started 2021-10-29 | $44.92K (+349.2%) started 2021-11-01 |
| 10Y ago | $75.1K (+651.0%) started 2018-03-16 | $148.44K (+1384.4%) started 2016-10-31 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ZS | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $29.79B | $302.85B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 323.12 |
| Forward P/Ei | 40.07 | 90.43 |
| Price/Salesi | 8.60 | 15.00 |
| EV/Revenuei | 8.86 | 28.46 |
| Analyst targeti | $198.88 | $364.01 |
| Target upsidei | +7.95% | -2.04% |
| Metric | ZS | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 25.40% | 31.10% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | 60.50% |
| EPS growthi | N/A | +60.50% |
| FCF margini | +34.94% | +33.75% |
| Operating margini | -3.28% | -2.46% |
| Profit margini | -2.44% | 7.95% |
| ROIC proxyi | -3.71% | 4.83% |
| Return on equityi | -3.71% | 4.83% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | N/A | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.92 | 0.89 |
| Debt/equityi | 78.94 | 7.70 |
| Current ratioi | 1.86 | 0.86 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.72 | 0.73 |
Over the past year, ZS and PANW have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.64), 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 | ZS | PANW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -22.79% | +75.25% |
| CAGRi | -22.82% | +75.39% | |
| Volatilityi | 67.55% | 49.79% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.09 | 1.29 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.12 | 2.04 | |
| Max drawdowni | 64.89% | 35.67% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.30% | 9.37% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 44.51% | 12.55% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 47.10% | 15.77% | |
| Max daily dropi | 31.52% | 9.28% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 27.87% | 18.33% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -22.28% | +349.22% |
| CAGRi | -4.92% | +35.11% | |
| Volatilityi | 58.06% | 43.58% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.13 | 0.81 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.18 | 1.18 | |
| Max drawdowni | 76.41% | 36.01% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.80% | 9.37% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 47.30% | 11.46% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 49.91% | 14.47% | |
| Max daily dropi | 31.52% | 28.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 34.63% | 28.86% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +650.97% | +1384.38% |
| CAGRi | +26.35% | +30.99% | |
| Volatilityi | 58.48% | 39.85% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.62 | 0.77 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.90 | 1.10 | |
| Max drawdowni | 76.41% | 47.98% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.80% | 9.37% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 33.52% | 11.39% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 40.24% | 14.58% | |
| Max daily dropi | 31.52% | 28.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 34.63% | 28.86% |
| Category | ZS | PANW |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Zscaler, Inc. | Palo Alto Networks, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Infrastructure | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Zscaler provides a cloud-native zero trust security platform that secures user, workload, and device connections to applications and the internet without traditional network perimeters. | Palo Alto Networks provides a broad cybersecurity platform spanning network security, cloud security, and security operations, increasingly unified through platformization and AI-driven products. |
| Investor focus | Investors watch net new annual recurring revenue growth, large customer expansion, and progress toward sustained GAAP profitability. | Investors track platformization deal momentum, next-generation security annual recurring revenue growth, and margin trends as the company consolidates customer security stacks. |
- Pure-play, cloud-native zero trust architecture with strong category leadership
- High net revenue retention reflecting deep platform expansion within customers
- Large and growing total addressable market as zero trust adoption increases
- Broad, diversified security platform spanning network, cloud, and SOC products
- Strong platformization strategy consolidating multiple point products into unified deals
- Established enterprise relationships supporting cross-sell across its portfolio
- Valuation has historically priced in sustained high growth rates
- Increasing competition from broader security platform vendors
- GAAP profitability still maturing relative to revenue scale
- Platformization strategy involves upfront revenue and margin trade-offs
- Integration execution risk from ongoing acquisitions
- Intensifying competition across every security category it operates in
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