What happened
Zscaler (ZS -2.17%) was a fine stock to own on the second-to-last trading day of the week. On Thursday, the cybersecurity company's share price bumped 2.7% higher thanks to bullish new takes from a pair of analysts. By contrast, the S&P 500 index only inched up by 0.6%.
So what
The first, and most impactful, of these takes was published by Oppenheimer's Ittai Kidron. After market hours on Wednesday, Kidron initiated coverage on Zscaler with a very firm outperform (i.e., buy) recommendation. His price target is $180 per share, implying upside of almost 21% to the current stock price.
The prognosticator's optimistic view on the cybersecurity specialist is based on increased take-up of "zero trust" architectures, a widening channel partner network, and what he describes as "a significant up-sell opportunity with its evolving product portfolio," among other factors.
Meanwhile, Kidron's peer Tal Liani at Bank of America Securities also found his inner bull as far as Zscaler is concerned. He raised his price target on the stock, upping it to $160 per share from his previous estimation of $145. Liani also thinks the company is a potential winner of an investment, as he maintained his buy recommendation on the shares.
Now what
It isn't hard to be optimistic about Zscaler's future these days. At the beginning of June the company posted its third quarter of fiscal 2023 results; those results not only exceeded analyst estimates for revenue and profitability, the company's guidance for both its current (fourth) quarter and the entirety of fiscal 2023 also topped the consensus numbers.
