One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$205.18 our estimate vs market $362.74
Wall Street consensus: $412.87 (101.2% higher than our fair-value estimate)
77% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Zebra Technologies Corporation
ZBRA · NMS · Technology · Communication Equipment
Current price
$362.74
52-week range
$199.05 - $386.23
Market cap
$17.16B
Balance sheet
Watch
7.41x Adequate
Net debt $2.80B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 8.4% last year.
- Reward Returns 15.3% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 22.8% over 3 years.
What this company does
Zebra Technologies Corporation
Zebra Technologies makes the hardware, like barcode scanners and label printers, that companies use to track their products from the warehouse to the checkout counter. The company earns money selling these devices and related software to businesses in retail, shipping, and healthcare to help them manage their supply chain (the entire journey a product takes from creation to the customer). This matters because as online shopping and fast shipping become more common, more companies rely on Zebra's tools to keep their operations running smoothly and efficiently.
How the company got here
Founded in 1969 as Data Specialties Inc., the company initially made high-speed mechanical products. It shifted focus in 1982 to on-demand barcode label printing, introducing its first printer called 'The Zebra.' The company officially became Zebra Technologies in 1986 and went public in 1991. A major turning point was the acquisition of Motorola Solutions' Enterprise business, which significantly expanded its offerings in mobile computing and data capture, solidifying its role in tracking and managing assets across various industries.
What it actually does
Zebra Technologies creates the rugged handheld scanners, mobile computers, and specialized printers that you see in places like retail stores, warehouses, and hospitals. Think of the device a delivery driver uses to scan your package, the scanner at a grocery store checkout, or the printer that makes shipping labels and patient wristbands—that's what Zebra makes. They provide the hardware and software that businesses use to track products and manage their frontline workers—the employees who are out in the field or on the factory floor. This technology helps companies keep track of their inventory (the products they have on hand) and makes their day-to-day operations more efficient.
Asset Visibility and Automation
This part of the business, which makes up a little less than half of the company's sales, focuses on giving physical items a digital voice. It includes the company's original and best-known products: specialized printers that create barcode labels, receipts, and RFID tags (Radio-Frequency Identification tags that can be read from a distance). This segment also sells barcode scanners, industrial machine vision cameras, and the software that helps businesses track all their assets in real-time. Companies in manufacturing, logistics, and retail pay for these tools to automate the process of identifying and tracking their inventory and equipment, which helps them run their operations more smoothly.
Connected Frontline
Making up a bit more than half of the company's revenue, this segment provides tools to empower a company's frontline employees. This includes rugged, enterprise-grade mobile computers, tablets, and wearable devices that workers use to manage tasks, communicate, and access information while on the move in a warehouse, store, or hospital. It also offers software for things like workforce management (scheduling and assigning tasks) and communication. Recently, this segment has expanded to include interactive kiosks and touchscreen displays for self-service applications, like ordering at a restaurant or checking in at a hotel. Businesses buy these products to connect their workers to each other and to the data they need, making them more productive and efficient.
What management is betting on now
Management is focused on what it calls the 'Connected Frontline,' which means digitally linking frontline workers to each other and to all the data they need to do their jobs efficiently. A key part of this strategy is investing heavily in software and artificial intelligence (AI) to not just track assets, but to provide real-time insights and automate workflows for employees. They are also expanding into machine vision, which uses cameras and AI to inspect products and guide automation. The recent acquisition of Elo, a maker of touchscreens and kiosks, shows a bet on the growth of self-service and consumer-facing automation in industries like retail and hospitality.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$288.00M
FY2025 Q1
$158.00M
FY2025 Q2
$130.00M
FY2025 Q3
$216.00M
FY2025 Q4
$327.00M
FY2026 Q2
$163.00M
FY2026 Q3
$198.00M
Revenue
$1.56B
Net income
$233.00M
Diluted EPS
4.85
Operating cash flow
$211.00M
Free cash flow
$198.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.50B
Net income
$135.00M
Diluted EPS
2.72
Operating cash flow
$176.00M
Free cash flow
$163.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.48B
Net income
$70.00M
Diluted EPS
1.40
Operating cash flow
$357.00M
Free cash flow
$327.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.32B
Net income
$101.00M
Diluted EPS
1.97
Operating cash flow
$235.00M
Free cash flow
$216.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.29B
Net income
$112.00M
Diluted EPS
2.19
Operating cash flow
$147.00M
Free cash flow
$130.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.31B
Net income
$136.00M
Diluted EPS
2.62
Operating cash flow
$178.00M
Free cash flow
$158.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.33B
Net income
$163.00M
Diluted EPS
3.14
Operating cash flow
$306.00M
Free cash flow
$288.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $205.18 vs current price $362.74
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $412.87 (101.2% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $205.18 a share — about 43.4% below today's price of $362.74, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $2.8B. Interest coverage 7.4x.
Net debt
$2.80B
Interest coverage
7.41x
Zebra Technologies Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 7.4 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
ZBRA
BASELINE
Zebra Technologies Corporation
Total debt $2.96B Interest coverage 7.41x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $34.96B Interest coverage 4.89x -34% vs ZBRA Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than ZBRA.
Total debt $1.46B Interest coverage 8.22x +11% vs ZBRA Has roughly the same debt cushion as ZBRA.
Total debt $9.62B Interest coverage 8.22x +11% vs ZBRA Has roughly the same debt cushion as ZBRA.
Total debt $1.31B Interest coverage 0.43x -94% vs ZBRA Carries about 17.1x less debt cushion than ZBRA.
What you should know
The case for and against ZBRA
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 8.4% last year.
-
Returns 15.3% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 22.8% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
33.25x
Forward P/E
16.31x
P/B
5.00x
P/S
2.94x
EV/EBITDA
16.86x
PEG ratio
0.60x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
49.6%
Operating margin
21.3%
Net margin
9.2%
ROE
15.3%
ROA
7.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.86x
Current ratio
0.52x
Quick ratio
0.30x
Total debt
$2.96B
Total cash
$157.00M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$5.85B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-1.0%
EPS TTM
10.91
EPS 5Y CAGR
-2.4%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$979.00M
Free CF TTM
$831.00M
FCF margin
14.2%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—