Needham Sees Comm & Enterprise Infra Budgets Intact; Priorities Shifting to Security and Cloud

• Needham analyst Alex Henderson hosted a Networking and Security oriented expert call with Joe Hlavin of n2grate Technology Solutions, a data center and cloud integration firm focusing on hardware, software, and cloud services for large Enterprises and the Federal sector.

• Henderson's discussion focused on C-Suites' handling of the broader macro environment, budget shifts and re-prioritization, lead times, and pricing dynamics.

• Budgets for CY23 were assumed flat, but businesses prioritized data center/security and shifting to software, noted Henderson.

• Lead times remained long, with firms struggling to predict supply.

• Software replaced hardware where possible, especially in Federal mandating physical delivery of the product to count toward current budgets.

• Pricing increases have not fully taken hold, but sales slowly added strings to significant discounts.

• The call fetched positive comments from VAR for Zscaler, Inc (NASDAQ: ZS) ($159.93, Strong Buy Rated, Price Target $185):, Okta, Inc (NASDAQ: OKTA) ($101.95, Buy Rated, Price Target $135):, Palo Alto Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: PANW), Fortinet, Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT), SentinelOne, Inc (NYSE: S) ($25.26, Buy Rated, Price Target $31):, and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD) ($183.53, Buy Rated, Price Target $210).

• It saw Neutral comments on Arista Networks, Inc (NYSE: ANET) ($102.38, Buy Rated, Price Target $128) and Cisco Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) ($44.46, Hold Rated).

• It also saw a modestly negative view of Juniper Networks, Inc (NYSE: JNPR) ($28.61, Buy Rated, Price Target $38).

Latest Ratings for ZS

Date	Firm	Action	From	To
Mar 2022	Daiwa Capital	Upgrades	Underperform	Buy
Feb 2022	BMO Capital	Maintains		Outperform
Feb 2022	Deutsche Bank	Maintains		Buy

View More Analyst Ratings for ZS

View the Latest Analyst Ratings

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