Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q1 behind us, let’s have a look at Zscaler NASDAQ:ZS and its peers.
Cybersecurity continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments within software for good reason. Almost every company is slowly finding itself becoming a technology company and facing rising cybersecurity risks. Businesses are accelerating adoption of cloud-based software, moving data and applications into the cloud to save costs while improving performance. This migration has opened them to a multitude of new threats, like employees accessing data via their smartphone while on an open network, or logging into a web-based interface from a laptop in a new location.
The 9 cybersecurity stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.6% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.
Luckily, cybersecurity stocks have performed well with share prices up 16.7% on average since the latest earnings results.
Zscaler NASDAQ:ZS
Pioneering the "zero trust" approach that has fundamentally changed enterprise network security, Zscaler NASDAQ:ZS provides a cloud-based security platform that connects users, devices, and applications securely without traditional network-based security hardware.
Zscaler reported revenues of $850.5 million, up 25.4% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.8%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and full-year EPS guidance beating analysts’ expectations.
“Zscaler is ideally positioned as the cybersecurity platform for the AI era. Our differentiated Zero Trust SASE architecture, which hides applications from attackers and eliminates lateral movement, has never been more essential in securing against threats exposed by frontier models and compromised AI agents,” said Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman and Founder of Zscaler.
Investor expectations, however, were likely higher than Wall Street’s published projections, leaving some wishing for even better results (analysts’ consensus estimates are those published by big banks and advisory firms, not the investors who make buy and sell decisions). The stock is down 27.1% since reporting and currently trades at $134.50.
Best Q1: Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ:PANW
Founded in 2005 by security visionary Nir Zuk who sought to reimagine firewall technology, Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ:PANW provides AI-powered cybersecurity platforms that protect organizations' networks, clouds, and endpoints from sophisticated threats.
Palo Alto Networks reported revenues of $3.00 billion, up 31.1% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates and full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Palo Alto Networks pulled off the highest guidance raise, fastest revenue growth, and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The market seems content with the results as the stock is up 3.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $307.74.
Weakest Q1: SentinelOne NYSE:S
Built on the principle of "fighting machine with machine," SentinelOne NYSE:S provides an AI-powered cybersecurity platform that autonomously prevents, detects, and responds to threats across endpoints, cloud workloads, and identity systems.
SentinelOne reported revenues of $276.7 million, up 20.8% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a slower quarter as it posted EPS guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations and a significant miss of analysts’ billings estimates.
SentinelOne delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, weakest guidance update, and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. The company added 35 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 1,702. As expected, the stock is down 10.8% since the results and currently trades at $16.08.
Varonis Systems NASDAQ:VRNS
Beginning with protecting Windows file shares in 2005 and evolving into a comprehensive security platform, Varonis Systems NASDAQ:VRNS provides data security software that helps organizations protect sensitive information, detect threats, and comply with privacy regulations.
Varonis Systems reported revenues of $173.1 million, up 26.9% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 4.6%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Varonis Systems scored the biggest analyst estimate beat among its peers. The stock is up 61.1% since reporting and currently trades at $40.96.
Qualys NASDAQ:QLYS
Originally developed to address the growing complexity of IT security in the cloud era, Qualys NASDAQ:QLYS provides a cloud-based platform that helps organizations identify, manage, and protect their IT assets from cyber threats across on-premises, cloud, and mobile environments.
Qualys reported revenues of $175.6 million, up 9.8% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 1.1%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.
The stock is up 35.6% since reporting and currently trades at $124.93.
Read our full, actionable report on Qualys here, it’s free.