What happened
Shares of Zscaler (ZS 1.79%) surged on Friday after the cloud security leader reported impressive growth metrics. By the close of trading, Zscaler's stock price was up nearly 22%.
So what
Zscaler's revenue rocketed 61% year over year to $318.1 million in its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, which ended on July 31. That topped Wall Street's expectations; analysts had projected revenue of $305 million.
"Despite the uncertain macroeconomic landscape which continues to evolve, we continue to see favorable demand for our Zero Trust Exchange platform because it makes businesses more secure, simplifies IT, and reduces cost," CEO Jay Chaudhry said in a press release.
Still, Zscaler is not yet profitable. It generated a Q4 operating loss of $82.5 million, compared to a loss of $67.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Its net loss, in turn, widened to $97.7 million from $81 million in the year-ago period.
However, Zscaler's adjusted net income -- which excludes stock-based compensation and other items -- improved by 79% to $36.4 million, or $0.25 per share. That was far above analysts' estimates for per-share profits of $0.20.
Better still, Zscaler ramped up its cash flow production. Its operating and free cash flow jumped 131% and 170%, respectively, to $103.1 million and $74.8 million.
Now what
The cybersecurity specialist sees its revenue growing by roughly 38% year over year to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2023. Management also forecast adjusted operating income of $173 million to $176 million and earnings per share of $1.16 to $1.18 for fiscal 2023.
