ZS Zscaler, Inc.

BULLISH Impact: 3/10 ANALYST-UPGRADE
Processed 1mo ago SEC analyst-ZS-mizuho-20251216
20 firms acted on ZS: Wells Fargo, Mizuho, Bernstein, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, B. Riley Securities, Wells Fargo, Piper Sandler, Roth Capital, Cantor Fitzgerald, Stephens & Co., B of A Securities, Rosenblatt, Exane BNP Paribas, B of A Securities, Raymond James, Mizuho, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Rosenblatt
Final — all horizons settled through T+60d
ZS ▼ -34.22% at T+60d
LONG call ✗ call lost -34.22% · α vs SPY -32.78% · entry $232.67 → $153.05
Currently $130.78 · -43.79% from $232.67 entry
Entry anchored
Dec 15, 04:29 PM ET
via Databento tick
T+1d
-3.00%
call -3.00% · α -1.90%
$225.69
settled 6mo ago
T+5d
-1.53%
call -1.53% · α -2.86%
$229.12
settled 6mo ago
T+20d
-9.52%
call -9.52% · α -11.47%
$210.53
settled 5mo ago
T+60d
-34.22%
call -34.22% · α -32.78%
$153.05
settled 3mo ago

Price Chart

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Executive Summary

Mizuho upgraded Zscaler (ZS) from Neutral to Outperform on Dec 16, 2025, maintaining a $310 price target — an extraordinary 137% upside from the current $130.68. The call is part of a broader cluster of 20 firms acting on ZS, but recent analyst momentum has been negative with 2 downgrades in the past 30 days (Morgan Stanley and BTIG). Mizuho's accuracy on ZS is 64% (7 of 11 calls), with a -2.0% average return, placing them in the top tier among covering firms but with mixed timing. Consensus is overwhelmingly bullish: 84% Buy/Strong Buy (16 strong buy, 33 buy, 9 hold, 0 sell) from 58 analysts. The mean price target of $229.45 implies 75.6% upside, but Mizuho's $310 target is well above the median ($225) and near the high ($335). However, insider selling ($1.4M in March 2026) and institutional trims (Two Sigma -64%, BofA -53%, UBS -50%) diverge from the upgrade, while short interest is elevated at 59.6%. EPS revisions are stable with 40 upward revisions for the current quarter in the past 30 days. Bottom line: Mizuho's upgrade adds bullish conviction but is partially offset by negative cross-signals, making this a high-conviction but high-risk call.

Impact Score

Base Score
2/7
LLM Adjustment
+1
Final Score
3/10

Consensus & Targets

Buy / Strong Buy
49 (84%)
Hold
9
Sell / Strong Sell
0
Total Analysts
45
Mean PT
$229.45
Median PT
$225.00
High PT
$335.00
Low PT
$140.00
Current Price
$130.68
Implied Upside
+75.6%

Full consensus: 16 Strong Buy, 33 Buy, 9 Hold, 0 Sell, 0 Strong Sell (total 58 analysts). That's 84% Buy/Strong Buy, a heavily bullish consensus. Mizuho's upgrade aligns with the majority view, reducing its contrarian edge.

Mean target $229.45, median $225, high $335, low $140. Current price $130.68 implies +75.6% upside to mean. Mizuho's $310 PT sits above the mean and median, near the high end, offering +137% upside — one of the most aggressive targets on the street.

Recent Analyst Activity

DateFirmActionRatingPrice Target
2026-05-01 Citizens maintain Market Outperform $210.00
2026-04-22 Morgan Stanley downgrade Equal-Weight $155.00
2026-04-15 Keybanc maintain Overweight $160.00
2026-04-09 BTIG downgrade Neutral
2026-03-10 Oppenheimer maintain Outperform $250.00
2026-03-03 Wells Fargo initiate Overweight $200.00
2026-03-02 Citigroup maintain Buy $195.00
2026-03-02 Goldman Sachs maintain Neutral $257.00
2026-02-27 Macquarie maintain Outperform $210.00
2026-02-27 Canaccord Genuity maintain Buy $275.00

In the last 30 days, ZS saw 0 upgrades and 2 downgrades (Morgan Stanley: Overweight→Equal-Weight on Apr 22; BTIG: Buy→Neutral on Apr 9). EPS revisions are mixed: current quarter has 40 ups and 0 downs in 30 days, but next quarter has 1 down and 0 up. The next-year estimate shows 2 ups and 2 downs — stability with slight negative tilt.

Firm Track Record — Mizuho

Mizuho accuracy: 52% on 2227 calls | avg return: 4.7%

Industry benchmark: mean 51% ± 11%. Top tier: ≥61% (mean + 1σ). Based on 15 firms with ≥5 scored calls.

FirmAccuracyCallsAvg Returnvs Average
Stephens & Co. 100% 3/3 19.8% top tier
Truist Securities 100% 2/2 1.9% top tier
Loop Capital 80% 4/5 10.8% top tier
Barclays 73% 8/11 4.2% top tier
Baird 71% 5/7 8.8% top tier
Stifel 71% 5/7 1% top tier
Bernstein 67% 2/3 -18.5% top tier
Mizuho 64% 7/11 -2% top tier
BMO Capital 63% 5/8 12.1% top tier
Wedbush 60% 3/5 5% above average

Mizuho has a 64% accuracy rate on 11 ZS calls with an average return of -2.0%, categorized as top tier by frequency but poor on realized returns. Best covering firm: Stephens & Co. (100% on 3 calls, +19.8% avg return). Worst: Bernstein (67% on 3 calls, -18.5% avg return). Mizuho's record is middling despite top-tier classification.

Earnings Estimates

Next earnings: May 27, 2026

PeriodEPS Est.EPS RangeRevenueRevisions (7d)
0q $1.01 $0.94 — $1.07 $835.7M ↑0 ↓0
+1q $1.03 $1.01 — $1.16 $878.7M ↑0 ↓0
+1y $4.59 $3.81 — $5.23 $4.0B ↑0 ↓0
0y $4.02 $3.80 — $4.47 $3.3B ↑0 ↓0

Cross-Platform Signals

Insider Trades (90d)
0 buys / 5 sells
Institutional
TWO SIGMA INVESTMENTS, LP — trim (-63.9%)
Institutional
NORGES BANK — new
Institutional
MORGAN STANLEY — add (25.4%)
Short Interest
Short: 625,300 | Exempt: 2,979 | TRF Vol: 1,049,913 | Short Ratio: 59.6% | Off-exchange volume (dark pool + OTC)

Insider trades: 5 sells totaling ~$1.4M in March 2026 (all executives). Institutional: Two Sigma trimmed 63.9%, BofA trimmed 52.9%, UBS trimmed 49.8%; Morgan Stanley added 25.4% and Norges Bank took a new position. Short interest ratio is 59.6% (very high). The analyst upgrade diverges from insider selling and institutional trims, but aligns with potential short squeeze dynamics. No congressional trades recorded.

Actionable Insight

Mizuho's upgrade is a high-upside signal trapped in a bearish cross-current of insider sales and institutional exits. Traders should treat this as a catalyst for a squeeze if earnings (due May 27, 2026) deliver, but avoid adding without tight stops given the conflicting flows.

Documents Analyzed

Report based on filing metadata.

15 reports for ZS
Performance horizon
75% Hit rate 3 of 4 directional calls best @ T+5▲ +6.80%Apr 22, 2026
Filters
Rows
Reports for ZS — sortable, filterable
Type Now
Jun 1, 2026
4d ago
ANALYST-UPGRADE
BULLISH ★ 3/10
awaiting T+5
May 31, 2026
5d ago
ANALYST-UPGRADE
BULLISH ★ 2/10
$232.67 $229.12▼ −1.53%▼ −2.86%$130.78 (−43.79%)
May 27, 2026
9d ago
ANALYST-DOWNGRADE
BEARISH ★ 5/10
awaiting T+5
May 26, 2026
10d ago
8-K
MIXED ★ 6/10
$126.17 $134.28▲ +6.43%▲ +5.96%$130.78 (+3.65%)
May 22, 2026
14d ago
ANALYST-DOWNGRADE
BEARISH ★ 3/10
$142.00 $134.27▲ +5.44%▲ +5.50%$130.78 (+7.90%)
May 21, 2026
15d ago
Press Release
BULLISH ★ 6/10
awaiting T+5
May 19, 2026
17d ago
Press Release
NEUTRAL ★ 4/10
awaiting T+5
May 18, 2026
18d ago
ANALYST-UPGRADE
BULLISH ★ 3/10
awaiting T+5
May 9, 2026
27d ago
ANALYST-DOWNGRADE
BEARISH ★ 3/10
$121.25 $134.28▼ −10.75%▼ −7.56%$130.78 (−7.86%)
May 7, 2026
29d ago
Press Release
NEUTRAL ★ 3/10
$152.03 $152.43▲ +0.26%▼ −1.24%$130.78 (−13.98%)
Showing 10 of 15

US Market Status

Market Closed — Opens Mon (36h 25m)

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