What does net debt / EBITDA mean?

How many years of operating earnings it would take to pay off the company's net debt.

How do you interpret net debt / EBITDA?

Lower is safer; lenders often covenant around 3–4×. A negative value means net cash (more cash than debt), a position of strength. Spikes can reflect a temporary EBITDA dip rather than new borrowing.

How does net debt / EBITDA compare across companies?

A standard leverage yardstick across non-financial sectors; covenant thresholds vary by industry cash-flow stability.

Zscaler ZS Net debt / EBITDA

Net debt / EBITDA at other companies

Cisco Systems, Inc.CSCO

1.5×0.0×

FortinetFTNT

-0.7×-0.2×

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.PANW

-0.1×0.0×

Cloudflare, Inc.NET

-5×-5.4×

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.CRWD

-42.2×—

Broadcom Inc.AVGO

1.2×-0.9×

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$850.5M+25.4%

Gross profit$657.8M+26.0%

Operating income-$29.6M-16.6%

Net income-$13.9M-237%

EPS (diluted)-$0.09-200%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$982.1M-50.7%

Total debt$1.7B+40.9%

Total equity$2.4B+31.1%

Total assets$7.1B+32.9%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$198.0M-6.2%

CapEx$42.4M-41.2%

Free cash flow$155.6M+12.0%

Valuation

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Market cap$20.19B-35.4%

Enterprise value$20.94B-31.5%

P/S6.4×-5.9×

Profitability

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Gross margin76.7%-0.7pp

Operating margin-4.7%-0.1pp

Net margin-2.4%+3.7pp

FCF margin30.4%+0.1pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity-3.7%+2.3pp

Debt / equity0.7×+0.1×

Current ratio1.9×+0.6×

Questions, answered.

What does net debt / EBITDA mean?: How many years of operating earnings it would take to pay off the company's net debt.
How do you interpret net debt / EBITDA?: Lower is safer; lenders often covenant around 3–4×. A negative value means net cash (more cash than debt), a position of strength. Spikes can reflect a temporary EBITDA dip rather than new borrowing.
How does net debt / EBITDA compare across companies?: A standard leverage yardstick across non-financial sectors; covenant thresholds vary by industry cash-flow stability.