Zscaler falls amid executive change as cybersecurity stocks pull back. Zscaler (ZS) stock fell Friday after the cybersecurity firm changed its chief revenue officer ahead of an investor day slated for Oct. 6. Cybersecurity stocks generally sold off on Friday amid big advances in 2026. Zscaler late Thursday announced the departure of Chief Revenue Officer Mike Rich for personal reasons. The company said Ross Tackett, head of worldwide sales, has been appointed the new chief revenue officer. Rich will remain as a strategic advisor to the company through Dec. 31. On the stock market today, Zscaler stock fell more than 8% to 196.34. Wall Street reaction to Zscaler's change in chief revenue officer was mixed. "The CRO transition is a recent development that was not accounted for in Zscaler's fiscal 2027 annual recurring revenue guide provided during fiscal Q4 earnings earlier in September, which raises the probability of disruption," said Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo, in a report. He added: "Mr. Tackett is experienced, with over a decade in sales leadership roles at ServiceNow (NOW) and 16 years at Dell (DELL). While this eases the transition, there are always changes, and attrition is likely which may further tether near-term performance upside." Zscaler reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates while its fiscal 2027 outlook for a key financial metric underwhelmed. "After catching up with management, we get the sense that the move is not a result of disagreement/performance and believe the transition will be smooth and not cause a go-to-market pivot," said RBC Capital analyst Matthew Hedberg, in a report. "There is never an ideal time to change sales leaders, but Mike Rich staying on through the end of the calendar year helps smooth the transition." Also, annual recurring revenue from subscriptions came in at $3.771 billion, up 25% and roughly in-line with estimates of $3.745 billion. Cybersecurity stocks pull back. Further, Zscaler stock has retreated 13% this year. However, many cybersecurity stocks have posted big gains in 2026. The IBD Computer-Software Security group ranks No. 2 out of 145 groups tracked. CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Okta (OKTA) and Cloudflare (NET) were among decliners on Friday. Corporate spending on cybersecurity is expected to climb because artificial intelligence is making it easier and cheaper for bad actors to conduct reconnaissance, launch social engineering campaigns and develop sophisticated malware. Meanwhile, cybersecurity firms are rapidly embedding AI into nearly every stage of threat detection, investigation and response. Zscaler stock technical ratings. Zscaler is a leader in Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE, which protects remote workers from hackers, and identity services. Also, Zscaler's web security gateways inspect customers' data traffic for malware. Further, Zscaler stock holds an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A, according to IBD Stock Checkup. That rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A+ signifies heavy institutional buying; E means heavy selling. Think of a C grade as neutral. Also, Zscaler stock holds an IBD Composite Rating of 99 out of a best possible 99. IBD's Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary ratings into one easy-to-use rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better. Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Zscaler launched its Agentic SOC, an AI-first security operations platform combining proprietary telemetry, a decoy network, and zero trust controls with third-party tools. The platform uses AI agents co-developed with Anthropic and OpenAI, trained on a decade of SOC experience and powered by more than 750 billion daily zero trust transactions. The launch aims to automate complex threat investigation and response at machine speed. For investors, the key question is whether Zscaler's AI investments will translate into higher recurring revenue whilst the company remains unprofitable. Zscaler's narrative projects $5.1 billion revenue and $132 million earnings by 2029. However, some analysts worry that acquisitions and aggressive AI investment could keep margins subdued even with continued revenue growth.

Zscaler appoints Ross Tackett as Chief Revenue Officer. Veteran leader and Head of Worldwide Sales promoted to lead global revenue operations and expand Zscaler platform adoption. September 24, 2026 16:05 ET | Source: Zscaler, Inc. SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), the cybersecurity platform for the AI era, today announced the appointment of Ross Tackett as the company's Chief Revenue Officer, effective October 1, 2026. In this role, Tackett will lead Zscaler's global revenue operations, sales organization, strategic partner ecosystem, and go-to-market execution. Tackett, who most recently served as Zscaler's Head of Worldwide Sales, has been with the company for three years and brings more than three decades of technology sales leadership experience and a proven track record of scaling multi-billion-dollar enterprise go-to-market organizations, accelerating international expansion, and building high-performing revenue teams. He previously spent more than a decade in sales leadership roles at ServiceNow, and more than 16 years in sales leadership roles at Dell. Tackett succeeds Mike Rich who is stepping down as CRO for personal reasons. Rich will remain with Zscaler as a strategic advisor through December 31, 2026. "Ross Tackett brings an exceptional combination of operational discipline, global scale, and customer-first leadership to this important role," said Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman, and Founder of Zscaler. "Having worked closely with Ross as Head of Worldwide Sales, I have seen firsthand his ability to inspire teams, execute at scale, and drive commercial expansion. His deep domain expertise and international experience throughout his career makes him the ideal leader to guide our global sales organization as enterprises urgently modernize their infrastructure with the Zero Trust Exchange and defend against AI-driven threats. I also want to express my gratitude to Mike Rich for his contributions and leadership, and for staying on to ensure a seamless transition." "Zscaler pioneered Zero Trust security and continues to set the benchmark for innovation in the AI era," said Tackett. "Enterprises worldwide are retiring complex, vulnerable legacy firewall and VPN-based security in favor of Zero Trust architecture, and Zscaler is uniquely positioned as the platform of choice. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Jay, our executive leadership, and our world-class sales organization to scale our global commercial engine and deliver tangible, transformative business outcomes for our customers." "Leading Zscaler's sales organization has been an incredible privilege and I am proud of the milestones our global team has achieved together," said Rich. "Having partnered side-by-side with Ross, I know our go-to-market team is in outstanding hands. His promotion reflects the strength of our leadership bench, and I look forward to actively supporting him and the company through the end of the year to ensure sustained momentum." About Zscaler Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange(TM) platform protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across 200+ public data centers globally and thousands of private sites at the edge, the SASE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world's largest in-line cloud security platform. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. These forward-looking statements include, but not limited to, statements regarding our leadership transition, plans, beliefs, and expectations, operational continuity, market opportunities, and strategic growth trajectories. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release, including but not limited to, our ability to successfully manage the transition, our ability to maintain key relationships with existing customers and prospects, our ability to retain our existing and hire new go-to-market personnel, and our ability to continue to capitalize on our account centric sales motion. Additional risks and uncertainties are included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" set forth from time to time in our filings and reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2026, filed on September 3, 2026, as well as future filings and reports by us, copies of which are available on our website at ir.zscaler.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based on the limited information currently available to Zscaler as of the date hereof, which is subject to change, and Zscaler will not necessarily update the information, even if new information becomes available in the future. Media Contacts Nick Gonzalez, Director of Public Relations, [email protected] Investor Relations Contacts Kim Watkins, SVP, Investor Relations & Strategic Finance, [email protected]