Zscaler, Inc. (ZS) shares rose 4.32% to $161.13 during intraday trading on Tuesday, adding $6.67 to the share price. The jump came after Gartner, Inc. named Zscaler a Leader in two major 2026 Magic Quadrant reports.

Dual Gartner Leadership Recognition

Gartner recognized Zscaler as a Leader in the 2026 Magic Quadrant for SASE Platforms — a first for the company in that category. SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge, converges networking and security into a cloud-delivered model, and Gartner — the research firm that coined the term — tracks the category as enterprises increasingly replace traditional VPN and data-center firewall architectures. The firm also earned Leader status in the 2026 Magic Quadrant for Security Service Edge (SSE), marking the fifth consecutive year Zscaler has achieved SSE Leader recognition. SSE covers the security slice of SASE, including cloud access security brokers, zero trust network access, and secure web gateways.

Gartner evaluates vendors based on completeness of vision and ability to execute. Its Magic Quadrant designations carry significant weight among enterprise procurement teams, often influencing shortlists for large cybersecurity contracts. Zscaler's dual Leader status underscores its expanding presence across cloud security markets.

Jay Chaudhry, CEO and Founder of Zscaler, said the recognition reflects the company's underlying architecture. He stated that legacy networks and virtual firewalls cannot deliver modern security on their own, and added that Zscaler's proxy-based design inspects all encrypted traffic at scale.

Platform Built on Agentic AI

Zscaler constructed its Zero Trust SASE platform on more than 15 years of security work. The platform secures users, cloud workloads, IoT devices, and AI agents, while also protecting branches, campuses, and factories through a single unified system.

This year, the company introduced the ZAgent Framework within its platform, bringing agentic AI capabilities to SASE management and daily operations. The framework is designed to simplify workflows while automatically securing every network communication. The move reflects a broader industry trend in which cybersecurity vendors are embedding AI agents to automate threat detection, policy enforcement, and operational tasks that previously required manual administrator intervention.

Zscaler currently protects 40% of all Forbes Global 2000 companies worldwide. The company says its unified approach eliminates gaps found in fragmented, legacy network setups, allowing threats to be stopped before they spread laterally.

Market Reaction

Shares of Zscaler traded at $161.13 as of 12:16 PM EDT. The stock surged sharply near the market open, moving above $154. Trading volume increased following the announcement of Gartner's dual Leader placement.

SASE and SSE platforms remain central to enterprise cybersecurity spending as organizations continue migrating applications and workloads to the cloud. Zscaler's Zero Trust model targets identity-based, policy-driven access across networks, and the company continues to position itself against fragmented, siloed security point products from competitors including Palo Alto Networks, Netskope, Cisco, and Cloudflare.

The Magic Quadrant reports are produced by Gartner analysts covering the SASE and SSE markets. Gartner does not endorse specific vendors within its published research findings. Zscaler points to the recognition as validation of its platform strategy.