Zebra Technologies (ZBRA)
Information Technology · $16.7B market cap · SEC CIK 0000877212
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Nov 3, 2026, before the open, with analysts expecting $4.99 in earnings per share.
The case for ZBRA
- Generated $831M of free cash flow in FY2025, 15% of revenue.
- Revenue growing 12.7% year over year.
- Return on equity of 15%.
- Price/sales of 2.9× is lower than 85% of Information Technology companies.
The case against
- Pricey at 31.0× earnings, against a long-run market average nearer 20×.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.52).
- Swings harder than the market (beta 1.62).
- Growth is weak (33/100): revenue +12.7%, EPS +3.3%, +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. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 64 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 33 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 46 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 81 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 43 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 73 Information Technology companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 31.0× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 3.75× |
| Price / sales | 2.9× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +12.7% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +3.3% |
| Gross margin | 50% |
| Operating margin | 15% |
| Net margin | 9% |
| Return on equity | 15% |
| Debt / equity | 0.81× |
| Current ratio | 0.52 |
| Dividend yield | none |
| Beta | 1.62 |
| 52-week range | $199.05 – $386.23 |
| Position in that range | 87% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +48.7% |
| 1-year return | +10.1% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Zebra Technologies's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.4B | $5.0B | $4.6B | $5.8B | $5.6B |
| Gross profit | $2.6B | $2.4B | $2.1B | $2.6B | $2.6B |
| Operating income | $700M | $742M | $481M | $529M | $979M |
| Net income | $419M | $528M | $296M | $463M | $837M |
| Operating cash flow | $917M | $1.0B | -$4.0M | $488M | $1.1B |
| Capital expenditure | $86.0M | $59.0M | $87.0M | $75.0M | $59.0M |
| Total assets | $8.5B | $8.0B | $7.3B | $7.5B | $6.2B |
| Total liabilities | $4.9B | $4.4B | $4.3B | $4.8B | $3.2B |
| Shareholder equity | $3.6B | $3.6B | $3.0B | $2.7B | $3.0B |
| Cash | $125M | $901M | $137M | $105M | $332M |
| Long-term debt | $2.4B | $2.1B | $2.0B | $1.8B | $922M |
| Free cash flow | $831M | $954M | -$91.0M | $413M | $1.0B |
| Gross margin | 48.1% | 48.4% | 46.3% | 45.4% | 46.7% |
| Operating margin | 13.0% | 14.9% | 10.5% | 9.2% | 17.4% |
| Net margin | 7.8% | 10.6% | 6.5% | 8.0% | 14.9% |
| Diluted shares | 51.2M | 51.9M | 51.7M | 52.6M | 53.9M |
Share count is down 5.0% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
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
- General Business and Industry Risks
- 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