Core and Main Inc vs Zscaler Inc — how do they compare? Core and Main Inc trades at $45.86 (market cap $8.62B), while Zscaler Inc trades at $180.85 (market cap $28.67B). The key difference: Zscaler Inc is far larger — about 3.3× Core and Main Inc's market cap, and Zscaler Inc is trading nearer its 52-week high, Core and Main Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CNM | ZS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $8.62B | $28.67B |
Sector | Technology | Technology |
52-Week High | $66.98 | $336.27 |
52-Week Low | $42.37 | $118.05 |
Enterprise Value | $10.92B | $27.00B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Core & Main (CNM) trades at $46.06, down 0.52% on the day, with a bullish technical signal despite mixed moving averages. The company reported strong earnings beats in recent quarters, with Q1 2026 EPS of $0.57 exceeding expectations. Financials show solid profitability with a 5.87% net income margin and 23.73% ROE, though debt levels remain elevated. Recent news includes institutional position adjustments and a $750 million senior notes offering priced in June 2026.
Outlook is cautiously optimistic with analyst consensus favoring Buy ratings (57%). Key opportunities include margin expansion and municipal strength, while risks involve high debt, competitive pressures, and reliance on infrastructure spending. The stock's valuation at a P/E of 19.76 appears reasonable given growth prospects, but investors should monitor execution against FY26 revenue guidance of $7.8–7.9 billion.
Zscaler (ZS) trades at $176.94, up 0.15% with strong bullish technical signals and positive analyst sentiment. The stock shows consistent revenue growth from $1.1B in 2022 to $2.67B in 2025, though it remains unprofitable with a -2.44% net margin. Recent earnings beats and leadership in Gartner Magic Quadrant for SASE platforms highlight operational strength. Current price sits near resistance at $177 with RSI indicating overbought conditions.
Outlook remains positive with 79% analyst buy ratings and $191.81 consensus target, but risks include negative profitability, high valuation multiples (P/S 8.94), and projected negative cash flow in 2026. The cybersecurity leader benefits from AI-driven security demand but faces execution risks amid competitive pressures.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Core & Main is a leading US distributor of water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection products. It provides essential infrastructure solutions to municipalities, private water companies, and contractors.
Read more on CNM →Zscaler is a security-as-a-service firm that offers its customers cloud-delivered solutions for protecting user devices and data. The firm leverages its position in 150 colocation data centers to deliver traditionally appliance-based security functionality, such as firewalls and sandboxes, as a completely cloud-native platform. The firm focuses on large enterprise customers and offers two primary product suites: Zscaler Internet Access, which securely connects users to externally managed application and websites (such as Salesforce and Google), and Zscaler Private Access, which securely connects users to internally managed applications. Both product suites encompass a broad gamut of capabilities situated across the traditional security stack.
Read more on ZS →