Zscaler soft guidance overshadows Q1 earnings, revenue beat; shares slide

Investing.com — Zscaler issued Monday softer current-quarter guidance that overshadowed better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results and a lift to annual guidance. 

Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:) fell over 7% in premarket trading Tuesday. 

For the three months ended Oct. 31, the company reported Q1 EPS of $0.77 on revenue of $628 million, topping estimates for $0.63 and $605.4M, respectively.  

Calculated billings grew 13% year-over-year to $516.7M, notably slower from the 27% increase in the previous quarter.

For Q2, adjusted EPS was forecast in a range of $0.68 to $0.69 on revenue of $633M to $635M, compared with estimates for $0.68 on revenue of $633.1M.

For full-year, adjusted EPS was forecast in a range of $2.94 to $2.99 on revenue of $2.62B to $2.64B, up from prior estimates for EPS of $2.81 to $2.87 on revenue of between $2.60B to $2.62B.

“Stepping back and simply considering the results outside the purview of the “prudent” guidance, we see significant moderation in business momentum, as billings grew 13%, which was halved from the 27% in the previous quarter,” Guggenheim analysts said in a note.

Alongside quarterly results, Zscaler also announced the retirement of its chief financial officer, Remo Canessa.

Analysts at BMO Capital Markets think that the firm’s report “will be impacted and potentially overshadowed” by this announcement in the near term.

Yasin Ebrahim contributed to this report.