Shares in Zscaler Inc. sagged in after-hours trading today even after the cloud security company beat Wall Street estimates on both revenue and earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter and issued fiscal 2027 earnings guidance above analyst expectations.
The stock fell 2% on the news, after gaining about 5% during the regular session ahead of the report.
For the quarter that ended on July 31, Zscaler reported adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share, up from 89 cents in the same quarter a year earlier, on revenue of $898.2 million, up 25% year-over-year. Analysts had been expecting $1.09 per share on revenue of $877 million.
Annual recurring revenue closed the year at $3.771 billion, up 25% year-over-year, with $246 million of that booked in the fourth quarter alone. Some of the growth was bought. Zscaler completed its $675 million purchase of managed detection and response provider Red Canary Inc. on Aug. 1, 2025, the opening day of its 2026 fiscal year, and that business carried $141 million of annual recurring revenue into the total. Minus Red Canary, the company’s growth rate was 20%.
Adjusted operating income of $218.4 million worked out to 24% of revenue, which Zscaler said is a record for the company, up from 22% a year earlier. The unadjusted net loss narrowed to $3.4 million from $17.6 million. Deferred revenue ended the year at $2.926 billion, 19% higher.
The company generated $60.8 million of free cash flow, or 7% of revenue, against $171.9 million and 24% a year earlier, as capital expenditures and internal-use software costs jumped to $218.5 million from $78.7 million.
Zscaler framed the year around AI. Its Agentic SecOps, data security and Security for AI lines now sit alongside the Zero Trust SASE products the company was built on.
Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Chaudhry called the technology “one of the most significant opportunities in Zscaler’s history.” Users, workloads, branches and now AI agents get wired straight to the applications they need, Chaudhry said in the company’s earnings release, with none of them joining a corporate network an intruder could then move around in. The agents themselves are now on the list of things customers ask Zscaler to secure.
For most of its life, Zscaler sold seats. Growth is now “broadening beyond users,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Rubin said, crediting products that are not sold by the seat. The company’s Z-Flex buying program is doing some of that work. Large deals set a record in the quarter, and Rubin said sales productivity improved.
Zscaler expects revenue of $935 million to $939 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, growth of about 19%, with adjusted earnings of $1.15 to $1.16 per share. Analysts had been looking for about $928 million.
For its fiscal year ahead, Zscaler said it expects adjusted earnings of $4.86 to $4.90 per share and revenue of $3.908 billion to $3.938 billion. Annual recurring revenue is expected to come in at $4.396 billion to $4.426 billion.
