ZS Zscaler, Inc.

BULLISH Impact: 3/10 ANALYST-UPGRADE
Processed 18d 8h ago SEC analyst-ZS-brileyse-20260518
B. Riley Securities double upgrade: Neutral → Buy

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Executive Summary

B. Riley Securities double-upgraded NVIDIA from Neutral to Buy on May 18, setting a $225 price target, a 40% upside from the $161.05 close. The call is contrarian: B. Riley had previously cut its PT from $275, but now reverses course, citing improved risk/reward. The firm is moderately accurate at 54% on 986 calls with a 10% average return. Consensus is heavily bullish — 47 of 58 analysts rate Buy or Strong Buy, with a mean target of $224.12. However, recent analyst momentum is mixed: Morgan Stanley downgraded to Equal-Weight at $155 in April, and BTIG dropped to Neutral. EPS revisions show slight downward pressure over 30 days, with 0 upgrades vs 1 downgrade for the current quarter. Insider selling in March totaled ~$1.4M from C-suite executives, a weak bearish signal. Short interest is elevated at 55.1% of float, suggesting crowded positioning. The bottom line: B. Riley's double upgrade is a bold contrarian call from a mid-tier firm, but the insider selling and mixed analyst momentum temper conviction.

Impact Score

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

Consensus & Targets

Buy / Strong Buy
47 (81%)
Hold
11
Sell / Strong Sell
0
Total Analysts
45
Mean PT
$224.12
Median PT
$215.00
High PT
$330.00
Low PT
$140.00
Current Price
$161.05
Implied Upside
+39.2%

Consensus is heavily bullish: 15 Strong Buy, 32 Buy, 11 Hold, 0 Sell, 0 Strong Sell — 81% Buy/Strong Buy. 58 analysts cover the stock. Direction is firmly bullish, though B. Riley's double upgrade from Neutral is a contrarian shift within that consensus.

Current price: $161.05. Mean target: $224.12 (implied upside +39.2%). Median: $215. High: $330, Low: $140. B. Riley's $225 PT is slightly above the mean and median, aligning with the bullish consensus but not at the extreme.

Recent Analyst Activity

DateFirmActionRatingPrice Target
2026-05-18 B. Riley Securities upgrade Buy $225.00
2026-05-18 Rosenblatt maintain Buy $223.00
2026-05-18 Keybanc maintain Overweight $190.00
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

30-day analyst activity: 1 upgrade (B. Riley), 1 downgrade (Morgan Stanley to Equal-Weight at $155). EPS revisions: 0 upgrades vs 1 downgrade for the current quarter; 0 vs 1 for the current year. Estimates are under slight downward pressure, not supportive of a bullish catalyst.

Firm Track Record — B. Riley Securities

B. Riley Securities accuracy: 54% on 986 calls | avg return: 10%

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

B. Riley Securities has a 54% accuracy rate on 986 calls with a 10% average return — mid-tier performance. Top firms on this ticker include Stephens & Co. (100% on 3 calls, +19.8% avg return) and Loop Capital (80% on 5 calls, +10.8%). B. Riley's accuracy is below these top-tier firms, reducing the weight of this call.

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
0y $4.02 $3.80 — $4.47 $3.3B ↑0 ↓0
+1y $4.59 $3.81 — $5.23 $4.0B ↑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: 550,199 | Exempt: 148 | TRF Vol: 997,842 | Short Ratio: 55.1% | Off-exchange volume (dark pool + OTC)

Insider trades: $1.4M in C-suite sales in March (CEO, CFO, EVPs) — a weak bearish signal that diverges from the bullish analyst call. No congressional trades. Institutional activity mixed: Morgan Stanley added 25.4%, but Two Sigma trimmed 63.9% and Bank of America trimmed 52.9%. Short interest is 55.1% of float — elevated, suggesting potential squeeze risk but also crowded short positioning. The insider selling and institutional trimming diverge from B. Riley's upgrade, reducing conviction.

Actionable Insight

B. Riley's double upgrade is a contrarian bullish signal from a mid-tier firm, but insider selling and mixed institutional flows argue against aggressive positioning. Traders should treat this as a tactical long entry with a stop below $150, given the May 27 earnings catalyst.

Documents Analyzed

Report based on filing metadata.

15 reports for ZS
Performance horizon
60% Hit rate 3 of 5 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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