Zscaler leads cyber security stocks higher as analysts call results 'pillar of strength'
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Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) shares surged 12% on Friday, leading the sector high, after the cloud-based cyber security firm posted third-quarter results that topped expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
For the period ending April 30, Zscaler (ZS) said it earned an adjusted $0.17 per share on $286.81M in revenue, up 62.6% year-over-year.
Looking ahead, it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $304M and $306M, compared to estimates of $291.3M. It also boosted full-year revenue guidance to be between $1.078B, up from a prior outlook of $1.045B to $1.05B.
The forecast for adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share were also raised, with operating income expected to be between $106M and $108M, up from a prior outlook of $95M to $98M. Adjusted earnings are now forecast to be between $0.64 and $0.65, compared to a previous view of $0.54 to $0.56.
Several analysts highlighted the strong results, including Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who pointed out the "robust growth" and "impressive" 54% rise in billings.
"Underlying deal metrics point to the continued acceleration of cyber security cloud momentum for [Zscaler] for the remainder of 2022 and beyond which will be highlighted by the Street given the challenging macroeconomic headwinds facing the overall market/pockets of tech spending," Ives wrote in a note to clients.
Zscaler (ZS) shares rose more than 12% to $159.94, while other cyber security stocks, such as Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW), Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) traded higher, led by a 6% rise in CrowdStrike. 
Earlier this month, Wedbush Securities listed Zscaler (ZS) as one of the "haves" in a tech sector of "haves and have nots."