Palo Alto Networks Inc vs Zscaler Inc — how do they compare? Palo Alto Networks Inc trades at $336.2 (market cap $274.64B), while Zscaler Inc trades at $166.12 (market cap $26.41B). The key difference: Palo Alto Networks Inc is far larger — about 10.4× Zscaler Inc's market cap, and Palo Alto Networks Inc is trading nearer its 52-week high, Zscaler Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| PANW | ZS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $274.64B | $26.41B |
Sector | Technology | Technology |
52-Week High | $396.00 | $336.27 |
52-Week Low | $141.67 | $118.05 |
Enterprise Value | $273.60B | $24.79B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) trades at $336.98, up 1.12% today, with a bearish technical signal despite recent earnings beats. Revenue grew to $9.22B in FY2025, with strong gross margins of 71.94%, but valuation ratios are elevated (P/E 293.03, P/S 23.39). The company is set to join the S&P 500, reflecting its leadership in AI cybersecurity, though rising costs and premium pricing pose challenges.
Outlook remains positive due to AI-driven security demand and platformization strategy, but high valuation and competitive pressures warrant caution. Analyst consensus is bullish with a $410.48 price target, yet near-term volatility may persist as the stock digests recent gains and faces execution risks in a dynamic cybersecurity landscape.
Zscaler (ZS) trades at $161.94, down 4.63% amid bearish technical signals despite strong quarterly earnings beats. The stock shows improving fundamentals with revenue growing from $1.1B in 2022 to $2.67B in 2025, though net margins remain negative. Recent news highlights Zscaler's AI security innovations and conference presentations, while analyst consensus remains strongly bullish with a $204.88 price target representing 26% upside potential.
Zscaler presents a compelling growth story with accelerating revenue and strong enterprise adoption, though profitability challenges and elevated valuation metrics warrant caution. The stock's current weakness near support levels offers potential entry points for investors bullish on cybersecurity demand, particularly given Zscaler's leadership in zero-trust security and AI-driven threat protection capabilities.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Palo Alto Networks is a pure-play cybersecurity vendor that sells security appliances, subscriptions, and support into enterprises, government entities, and service providers. The company's product portfolio includes firewall appliances, virtual firewalls, endpoint protection, cloud security, and cybersecurity analytics. The Santa Clara, California, firm was established in 2005 and sells its products worldwide.
Read more on PANW →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 →