PANW vs ZS vs GEN Stock Comparison

Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler and Gen Digital Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PANW Palo Alto Networks Inc
$380.57 -2.0% 1M +75.2% 1Y
Market cap
$274.48B
P/E
894.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.48B
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
4 wins
ZS Zscaler, Inc.
$247.82 +24.9% 1M -22.8% 1Y
Market cap
$38.06B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
GEN Gen Digital Inc.
$28.20 +35.3% 1M +9.1% 1Y
Market cap
$17.33B
P/E
14.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.23B
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Gen Digital leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Gen Digital 5, Palo Alto Networks 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPANWZSGENLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $274.48B $38.06B $17.33B PANW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 894.1x -628.5x 14.4x GEN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 87.1x 54.5x 9.2x GEN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +24.5% — +16.9% PANW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.7% — 23.1% GEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 14.4% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 2.8x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +75.2% -22.8% +9.1% PANW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +35.0%/yr -4.9%/yr +2.1%/yr PANW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 49.7% 71.2% 42.8% GEN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 — 72/100 GEN

Percentile Scorecard

PANWZSGEN

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

AxisPANWZSGEN
Valuation 43 #71 of 124 16 #104 of 124 87 #17 of 124
Growth 37 #72 of 113 – 63 #42 of 113
Profitability 75 #28 of 109 – 95 #6 of 109
Financial Health 39 #78 of 127 32 #87 of 127 18 #104 of 127
Shareholder Returns 55 #29 of 63 – 95 #4 of 63
Overall 50 – 72
  • PANW ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • ZS ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • GEN ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPANWZSGENSPY
1 month -2.0%+24.9%+35.3% +0.7%
3 months +16.9%+67.0%+3.3% +3.7%
6 months +112.2%+89.6%+46.2% +7.1%
Year to date +106.6%+10.2%+3.7% +12.8%
1 year +75.2%-22.8%+9.1% +11.9%
3 years +219.1%+58.0%+69.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year +47.3%+16.5%+19.2% +22.8%
5 years +348.5%-22.3%+10.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year +35.0%-4.9%+2.1% +10.9%
10 years +1,406.6%—+13.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +31.2%—+1.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePANWZSGENSPY
Volatility, 1Y 49.7%71.2%42.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.0%82.5%40.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.260.960.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.51-0.320.21 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.0%-76.4%-49.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-26.3%-10.2% -1.2%
52-week high $419.91$336.27$31.41 $779.14
52-week low $141.67$118.05$17.89 $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.

MultiplePANWZSGEN
P/E now vs peer median 928.5xmedian 39.0x -628.5xmedian 39.0x 13.9xmedian 39.0x
P/S now vs peer median 27.0xmedian 4.6x 12.1xmedian 4.6x 3.2xmedian 4.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 143.5xmedian 32.7x —median 32.7x 9.1xmedian 32.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 75.4xmedian 27.4x 47.4xmedian 27.4x 9.5xmedian 27.4x
P/B now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 3.2x 15.6xmedian 3.2x 6.1xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median -64.16median 1.23 —median 1.23 -5.13median 1.23

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 monthsPANWZSGEN
Revenue $11.48B – $5.23B
Gross profit $8.08B – $4.05B
Operating income $695.00M – $2.19B
Net income $307.00M – $1.21B
Free cash flow $4.11B – $1.76B
R&D $2.55B – $430.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.40 – $2.00
Cash & equivalents $2.51B $928.35M $589.00M
Total debt – – $8.12B
Shares (diluted) 764.00M 160.22M 603.00M
Enterprise value $259.55B $24.18B $15.15B

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
MetricPANWZSGEN
P/E 928.5x -628.5x 13.9x
P/FCF 75.4x 47.4x 9.5x
P/Operating cash flow 68.1x – 9.4x
P/S 27.0x 12.1x 3.2x
P/B 11.3x 15.6x 6.1x
P/Tangible book 15.1x 17.0x 20.5x
EV/EBITDA 143.5x – 9.1x
EV/EBIT 441.9x – 11.1x
EV/Revenue 26.8x – 4.6x
EV/FCF 74.7x – 13.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 67.4x – 13.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -64.16 – -5.13

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPANWZSGEN
Revenue growth (1Y) 24.5% – 16.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.5% – 11.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.3% – 14.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.5% – 10.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -44.1% – 30.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 21.5% – 26.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -72.9% – 111.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -11.3% – -4.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -74.9% – 118.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -14.5% – -2.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.5% – 34.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.9% – 22.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% – 35.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.1% – 22.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPANWZSGEN
Gross margin 70.4% – 77.4%
EBITDA margin 18.6% – 51.2%
Operating margin 6.1% – 41.8%
Pretax margin 4.7% – 32.3%
Net margin 2.7% – 23.1%
FCF margin 35.8% – 33.7%
Operating cash flow margin 39.7% – 34.0%
Return on equity 1.1% – 44.7%
Return on assets 0.6% – 7.7%
Return on invested capital – – 14.4%
Return on capital employed 1.9% – 18.0%
Asset turnover 0.2x – 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 14.8x – 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 15.5% – 4.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPANWZSGEN
Debt / assets – – 52.2%
Debt / equity – – 3.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 2.8x
Debt / FCF – – 4.6x
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 67.0% 82.4%
Equity / assets 56.7% 33.0% 17.6%
Interest coverage – – 4.3x
Current ratio 0.9x 1.7x 0.4x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.6x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 9.21 – 1.45

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPANWZSGEN
Dividend yield – – 1.8%
Net buyback yield -0.1% – 4.6%
Shareholder yield -0.1% – 6.4%
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.

ConsensusPANWZSGEN
Forward P/E 87.1xFY2027 54.5xFY2027 9.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.37FY2027 $4.55FY2027 $3.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +13.8%FY2027 +8.1%FY2027 +19.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +16.5% +27.0% +10.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $13.37BFY2027 $4.07BFY2027 $5.64BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.5%FY2027 +21.5%FY2027 +12.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.7% +19.4% +8.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPANWZSGEN
Held by institutions 82.1% 51.4% 89.1%
Institutions holding 2,916 735 689
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.6% -3.9% +3.8%
Institutions buying 1,548 417 392
Institutions selling 1,126 236 211
Buyers to sellers 1.37 1.77 1.86

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.

PANWZSGEN
PANW 1.00 0.61 0.34
ZS 0.61 1.00 0.37
GEN 0.34 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PANW, ZS and GEN?

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Palo Alto Networks (PANW) $274.48B, Zscaler (ZS) $38.06B, Gen Digital (GEN) $17.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, PANW, ZS and GEN?

Gen Digital (GEN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 894.1x, Zscaler (ZS) -628.5x, Gen Digital (GEN) 14.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Gen Digital (GEN) is cheapest (Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 87.1x, Zscaler (ZS) 54.5x, Gen Digital (GEN) 9.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Palo Alto Networks (PANW) +24.5%, Gen Digital (GEN) +16.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Gen Digital (GEN) has the highest net margin (Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 2.7%, Gen Digital (GEN) 23.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Palo Alto Networks (PANW) returned the most: Palo Alto Networks (PANW) +75.2%, Zscaler (ZS) -22.8%, Gen Digital (GEN) +9.1%. Over five years, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) compounded fastest (Palo Alto Networks (PANW) +35.0%/yr, Zscaler (ZS) -4.9%/yr, Gen Digital (GEN) +2.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Gen Digital (GEN) has been the steadiest (Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 49.7%, Zscaler (ZS) 71.2%, Gen Digital (GEN) 42.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PANW, ZS and GEN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Gen Digital (GEN) leads on 5. 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.