Zscaler shares are trading higher after-hours: explore why

Shares of Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ: ZS) are up more than 5.0% in extended trading on strong results for the fiscal first quarter. The cloud-based information security company also raised its full-year guidance for revenue.

Q1 results

Zscaler reported $90.8 million in net loss versus the year-ago figure of a much lower $55 million. On an adjusted basis, however, it earned 14 cents a share in Q1.

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The San Jose headquartered company generated $230.5 million in revenue that represents an annualised growth of about 62%, attributed to a rise in cyberattacks. According to FactSet, experts had forecast 12 cents of adjusted EPS on $212 million in revenue.

Other notable figures include a 71% year-over-year increase in calculated billings while total operating expenses were up 64.5% as the company spent more on R&D and marketing in the recent quarter.

The stock is up more than 80% this year.

Future outlook

For the full financial year, Zscaler now forecasts up to $1.01 billion in revenue on roughly $131 billion in calculated billings. Its previous guidance for revenue topped at $950 million.  

The story, however, is a bit different for adjusted profit. The Nasdaq-listed firm anticipated up to 56 cents of adjusted EPS this year but lowered his outlook on Tuesday to 50 cents to 52 cents a share.

In the earnings press release, CEO Jay Chaudhry revealed to have recently surpassed $1.0 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and said:

CISOs and CIOs are looking to phase out legacy network security in favour of zero trust architecture due to increasing cyber and ransomware risks and accelerating digital transformation. This architecture shift continues to drive strong demand for our Zero Trust Exchange platform.