Zebra Technologies (ZBRA)

Information Technology · $15.0B market cap · SEC CIK 0000877212

Next reports on Feb 1, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $5.35 in earnings per share.

52-week range $199.05 to $392.78. 18% below its 52-week high and 61% above its low.

The case for ZBRA

• Generated $831M of free cash flow in FY2025, 15% of revenue.
• Revenue growing 16.9% year over year.
• Return on equity of 17%.
• Price/sales of 2.4× is lower than 86% of Information Technology companies.

The case against

• Pricey for its growth: 25.0× earnings, where 6% a year of growth would justify about 17×.
• Swings harder than the market (beta 1.65).
• Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.57).
• Growth is weak (33/100): revenue +16.9%, EPS +24.9%, +3.9% a year over five years.
• Long-term debt of $2.4B against $125M of cash.

What the score is made of

Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Information Technology companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.

• Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 73 Information Technology companies.

The financials

The financials, five years deep

Pulled from Zebra Technologies's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.

What Zebra Technologies says it does

The Company We are a global leader in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (“AIDC”) industry. The AIDC market consists of mobile computing, data capture, radio frequency identification devices (“RFID”), thermal barcode printing, and other workflow automation products and services. The Company’s products, services, and software solutions (“offerings”) are proven to help our customers and end-users digitize and automate their workflows to achieve their critical business objectives, including improved productivity and operational efficiency, optimized regulatory compliance, and better customer experiences. We design, manufacture, and sell a broad range of AIDC offerings, including: mobile computers, barcode scanners and imagers, RFID readers, specialty printers for barcode labeling and personal identification, real-time location systems (“RTLS”), related accessories and supplies, such as labels and other consumables, and related…

Risk factors ZBRA lists in its 10-K

• The Company is vulnerable to the potential difficulties associated with the increase in the complexity of our business
• Geopolitical turmoil, including regional conflicts, terrorism and war could result in market instability, which could negatively impact our business results
• Inability to consummate future acquisitions at appropriate prices could negatively impact our growth rate and stock price
• The Company may not be able to continue to develop offerings to address user needs effectively
• The Company participates in a competitive industry, which may become more competitive. Competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technology and changes in customer requirements
• Third parties may allege that the Company or our suppliers infringe upon their intellectual property rights
• The inability to protect intellectual property could harm our reputation, and our competitive position may be materially damaged
• Certain of our offerings rely on intellectual property, technologies, software, and content developed by, or licensed from, third parties
• Emerging issues related to the development and use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) could give rise to legal or regulatory action, damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business
• Cybersecurity incidents could disrupt our business operations
• Cybersecurity incidents affecting our systems or our customers’ systems may negatively impact our business
• Defects, errors, or bugs in our offerings, or in third-party components or software included in our offerings, could result in liability, reputational harm, and significant costs
• Our business success depends on our ability to attract, retain, develop and motivate key personnel
• A natural or man-made disaster, or a widespread public health issue, may have a material impact on our global operations, our customers and our vendors, which could adversely impact our business results and financial condition
• Large, multi-year, and fixed-price contracts may expose the Company to risks that could lead to losses and adversely affect our business
• We rely on our channel partner network to sell many of our offerings, and failure of channel partners to effectively bring our offerings to market may negatively affect our results of operations and financial results
• Failure of our suppliers, subcontractors, outsource partners, channel partners, and electronics manufacturers to use acceptable legal or ethical business practices could negatively impact our business
• Our order backlog may not be a reliable indicator of our future operating results
• If we experience a significant disruption in our IT systems, our business, reputation, and operating results could be adversely affected
• The impact of trade policy changes in the United States and corresponding actions by other countries in which the Company does business could adversely affect our financial performance
• Our exposure to foreign exchange rate fluctuations on cross-border transactions and the translation of local currency results into U.S. dollars could negatively impact our results of operations
• Taxing authority challenges may lead to tax payments exceeding current reserves
• Forecasting our estimated annual effective tax rate is complex and subject to uncertainty, and there may be material differences between our forecasted and actual tax rates
• Adverse economic conditions or reduced and/or changes in the timing and amount of information technology spending may negatively impact our business
• It is important that we are able to obtain many different types of insurance, and if we are not able to obtain insurance or exhaust our coverage, we may be forced to retain the risk
• Our indebtedness could adversely affect our business
• Our use of derivative financial instruments to reduce interest rate risk may result in added volatility in our operating results
• We could be adversely impacted by changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates, and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters
• Laws and regulations relating to the handling of personal data may result in increased costs, legal claims, or fines against the Company
• The unfavorable outcome of any pending or future litigation, arbitration, or administrative action could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations
• We are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety, and environmental laws
• We are dependent on the availability and use of certain bands within the radio frequency spectrum; our offerings may be subject to harmful interference from new or modified spectrum uses

Filings

Other Information Technology companies