FFIV vs NET vs ZS Stock Comparison

F5, Cloudflare and Zscaler Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FFIV F5, Inc.
$461.60 +4.2% 1M +54.7% 1Y
Market cap
$26.20B
P/E
36.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.31B
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
6 wins
NET Cloudflare, Inc.
$332.09 -4.8% 1M +52.4% 1Y
Market cap
$116.93B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.51B
Div. yield
–
Content Delivery Networks Technology
2 wins
ZS Zscaler, Inc.
$260.45 +34.9% 1M -19.4% 1Y
Market cap
$41.38B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

F5 leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (F5 6, Cloudflare 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFFIVNETZSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $26.20B $116.93B $41.38B NET
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 36.1x -566.9x -660.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.4x 255.5x 57.2x FFIV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.4% +33.5% — NET
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 22.0% -8.2% — FFIV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -12.4% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 252.9x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +54.7% +52.4% -19.4% FFIV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.4%/yr +13.2%/yr -3.4%/yr FFIV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.1% 67.1% 71.3% FFIV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 50/100 — FFIV

Percentile Scorecard

FFIVNETZS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisFFIVNETZS
Valuation 75 #32 of 124 16 #32 of 38 17 #103 of 124
Growth 40 #68 of 113 66 #13 of 36 –
Profitability 94 #8 of 110 46 #19 of 34 –
Financial Health 52 #63 of 129 60 #16 of 38 32 #88 of 129
Shareholder Returns 59 #28 of 67 65 #8 of 21 –
Overall 64 50 –
  • FFIV ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • NET ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • ZS ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodFFIVNETZSSPY
1 month +4.2%-4.8%+34.9% -0.8%
3 months +13.1%+25.0%+76.8% +3.5%
6 months +55.0%+56.4%+94.2% +7.0%
Year to date +80.8%+68.4%+15.8% +12.2%
1 year +54.7%+52.4%-19.4% +13.0%
3 years +208.2%+500.0%+68.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +45.6%+81.8%+19.1% +23.1%
5 years +113.7%+85.9%-16.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +16.4%+13.2%-3.4% +11.0%
10 years +286.1%—— +258.0%
10 years, per year +14.5%—— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureFFIVNETZSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.1%67.1%71.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.6%69.3%83.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.081.600.96 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.560.78-0.27 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.4%-82.6%-76.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.8%-8.0%-22.5% -1.8%
52-week high $479.83$360.95$336.27 $779.14
52-week low $223.99$160.19$118.05 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleFFIVNETZS
P/E now vs peer median 36.0xmedian 38.1x -570.5xmedian 29.6x -660.5xmedian 38.1x
P/S now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 4.3x 42.6xmedian 4.2x 12.7xmedian 4.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.1xmedian 35.4x -9,176xmedian 24.2x —median 35.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.1xmedian 27.1x 307.1xmedian 15.1x 49.8xmedian 27.1x
P/B now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 3.4x 66.0xmedian 3.9x 16.3xmedian 3.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.13median 1.27 -131.34median 0.38 —median 1.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsFFIVNETZS
Revenue $3.31B $2.51B –
Gross profit $2.71B $1.82B –
Operating income $812.13M -$354.38M –
Net income $726.51M -$206.28M –
Free cash flow $969.60M $348.41M –
R&D $593.25M $573.30M –
EPS (diluted) $12.62 $-0.58 –
Cash & equivalents $1.61B $1.66B $928.35M
Total debt – $1.29B –
Shares (diluted) 57.55M 354.33M 160.22M
Enterprise value $20.61B $100.46B $27.50B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricFFIVNETZS
P/E 36.0x -570.5x -660.5x
P/FCF 27.1x 307.1x 49.8x
P/Operating cash flow 25.0x 168.9x –
P/S 7.9x 42.6x 12.7x
P/B 6.8x 66.0x 16.3x
P/Tangible book 6.8x 68.5x 17.8x
EV/EBITDA 27.1x -9,176x –
EV/EBIT 30.3x -293.8x –
EV/Revenue 7.4x 41.4x –
EV/FCF 25.4x 298.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow 23.5x 164.4x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.13 -131.34 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFFIVNETZS
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.4% 33.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 30.6% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.5% 27.3% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.1% 28.9% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.1% -90.5% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.8% -21.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) 8.9% -76.2% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 29.8% 2.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) 10.7% -72.8% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.9% 4.3% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.2% 32.6% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 41.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1.5% 67.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 61.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFFIVNETZS
Gross margin 81.9% 72.6% –
EBITDA margin 27.5% -0.5% –
Operating margin 24.5% -14.1% –
Pretax margin 25.8% -7.9% –
Net margin 22.0% -8.2% –
FCF margin 29.3% 13.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 31.7% 25.2% –
Return on equity 19.4% -13.1% –
Return on assets 10.9% -3.3% –
Return on invested capital – -12.4% –
Return on capital employed 16.6% -9.6% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -3.1x –
Stock comp / revenue 7.6% 20.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFFIVNETZS
Debt / assets – 20.0% –
Debt / equity – 0.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 252.9x –
Debt / FCF – 3.7x –
Liabilities / assets 43.5% 75.0% 67.0%
Equity / assets 56.5% 25.0% 33.0%
Interest coverage – -30.9x –
Current ratio 1.7x 1.8x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.8x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.9x 1.6x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 7.16 13.53 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFFIVNETZS
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 0.6% 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 0.6% 0.0% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusFFIVNETZS
Forward P/E 28.4xFY2026 255.5xFY2026 57.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $16.24FY2026 $1.30FY2026 $4.55FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +2.7%FY2026 +39.8%FY2026 +8.1%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +5.0% +22.3% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.52BFY2026 $3.02BFY2026 $4.07BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +13.8%FY2026 +39.0%FY2026 +21.5%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +6.4% +16.4% +19.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFFIVNETZS
Held by institutions 96.6% 88.2% 51.4%
Institutions holding 831 1,219 734
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.6% +2.8% -3.9%
Institutions buying 483 704 416
Institutions selling 240 378 236
Buyers to sellers 2.01 1.86 1.76

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

FFIVNETZS
FFIV 1.00 0.31 0.34
NET 0.31 1.00 0.50
ZS 0.34 0.50 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FFIV, NET and ZS?

Cloudflare (NET) is the largest by market capitalisation: F5 (FFIV) $26.20B, Cloudflare (NET) $116.93B, Zscaler (ZS) $41.38B.

Which company is growing faster?

Cloudflare (NET) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: F5 (FFIV) +9.4%, Cloudflare (NET) +33.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

F5 (FFIV) has the highest net margin (F5 (FFIV) 22.0%, Cloudflare (NET) -8.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year F5 (FFIV) returned the most: F5 (FFIV) +54.7%, Cloudflare (NET) +52.4%, Zscaler (ZS) -19.4%. Over five years, F5 (FFIV) compounded fastest (F5 (FFIV) +16.4%/yr, Cloudflare (NET) +13.2%/yr, Zscaler (ZS) -3.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, F5 (FFIV) has been the steadiest (F5 (FFIV) 35.1%, Cloudflare (NET) 67.1%, Zscaler (ZS) 71.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FFIV, NET and ZS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, F5 (FFIV) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.