Here's Why Investors Should Consider Buying Zebra Technologies Now

Zebra Technologies Corporation ZBRA stands to benefit from strength across its businesses, focus on operational excellence and acquired assets. The company remains focused on investing in growth opportunities and strengthening its long-term market position.

ZBRA, which has a market capitalization of $16.4 billion, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Let’s delve into the factors that have been aiding the firm for a while now.

Business Strength: The company has been witnessing growth across the Enterprise Visibility & Mobility segment. Higher sales of mobile computing and data capture solutions are driving the segment’s revenues, which increased 8.1% year over year in the first quarter of 2025. An increase in sales of services and software, driven by retail software wins, is also aiding the segment.

Solid demand for printing solutions and RFID products is also boosting the Asset Intelligence & Tracking segment’s performance. In the first quarter, the segment’s sales increased 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Driven by strength across its businesses, the company expects second-quarter 2025 net sales to increase in the band of 4-7% from the prior-year quarter.

Acquisition Benefits: The company intends to strengthen and expand its businesses through acquisitions. In March 2025, Zebra Technologies acquired Photoneo, a market leader in the 3D machine vision solutions industry. The buyout enables ZBRA to combine Photoneo’s 3D machine vision solutions with its advanced sensors, vendor-agnostic software and AI-based image processing capabilities. This acquisition enhances Zebra Technologies' portfolio of 3D machine vision solutions and addresses several challenges in high-value applications.

Also, the company’s acquisition of Matrox Imaging in June 2022 enabled it to combine its fixed industrial scanning and machine vision portfolio with the latter’s expertise in the imaging market.

Price Performance of ZBRA Stock

In the past three months, the company’s shares have surged 44.6% compared with the industry’s 42% growth.

Shareholder-Friendly Policies: Zebra Technologies has continued rewarding its shareholders. The company repurchased shares worth $125 million and $47 million in the first three months of 2025 and 2024, respectively. In May 2022, its board of directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to $1 billion. Exiting the first quarter of 2025, the company had $721 million remaining under this program.

Also, Zebra Technologies’ free cash flow amounted to $158 million in the first quarter of 2025, up 42.3% on a year-over-year basis. This should support the company’s shareholder-friendly policies.

Earnings Estimates: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ZBRA’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $14.51 per share, indicating an increase of 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $16.41 per share, indicating an increase of 13.1% from the previous year.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the same space are discussed below.

Ferguson Enterprises Inc. FERG currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

FERG delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 4.8%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ferguson’s fiscal 2025 earnings has increased 7%.

RBC Bearings Incorporated RBC currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. RBC delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 4.7%. In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for RBC Bearings’ 2025 earnings has increased 2.5%.

Broadwind, Inc. BWEN presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 61.1%. In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for BWEN’s 2025 earnings has increased 14.3%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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