How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to ZBRA for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Zebra Technologies' Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Zebra Technologies' main business drivers.
Headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, Zebra Technologies Corp. is the leading provider of enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry throughout the world. The company has a diversified portfolio of products and solutions that includes cloud-based subscriptions and a full range of services like maintenance, repair, technical support, as well as managed and professional services. The products and solutions, which are sold across 180 countries, are designed to help its customers achieve enhanced operational efficiency, increased asset utilization, optimized workflows and improved regulatory compliance. As of 2025-end, it had around 10,700 employees globally.
Key end markets served by the company include manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, transportation and logistics, public sector, healthcare, and other industries throughout the world. Products are sold directly through sales representatives and an extensive network of channel partners.
Effective from the fourth quarter of 2025, Zebra Technologies reports operations under two segments — the company started reporting under two segments, namely Connected Frontline (CF) and Asset Visibility & Automation (AVA). The segments are briefly discussed below:
CF (54.9% of total revenues in 2025): The segment provides tools to help frontline workers improve efficiency and customer service through integrated tools and insights. Its key product lines comprise rugged mobile devices like handhelds, tablets and wearables with features such as barcode scanning, GPS and RFID. The segment also offers Elo solutions like POS systems and kiosks, AI-driven workflow software for real-time decisions and services for device management, maintenance and support through a worldwide network of partners.
AVA (45.1%): The segment helps track important assets and automate workflows, providing real-time data to improve supply chains, manufacturing and logistics. The company’s key product lines comprise printers for labels, cards and RFID tags, barcode scanners and AI-powered machine vision systems. Its RFID and RTLS solutions enable precise tracking of assets and people. It also offers supplies and sensors, along with services for maintenance, support, and device management.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Zebra Technologies a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in August 2016 would be worth $5,550.31, or a gain of 455.03%, as of August 18, 2026, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 254.92% and gold's return of 214.07% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for ZBRA.
Zebra Technologies is benefiting from broad demand across retail, manufacturing and healthcare, with mobile computing, printing, machine vision and RFID supporting growth across both segments. Its integrated hardware, software and services portfolio is deepening customer adoption of automation and AI-enabled workflows, while Elo Touch and Photoneo expand its addressable opportunities. Healthy cash generation continues to support share repurchases and investment, while device upgrade cycles and growing software adoption strengthen the longer-term outlook. Its expanding transportation and logistics pipeline also supports future growth opportunities. However, rising memory costs and supply constraints remain execution risks, although pricing actions are helping offset the impact. Elevated debt and geopolitical exposure remain concerns.
The stock is up 40.26% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 4 higher, for fiscal 2026. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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Zebra Technologies Corporation (ZBRA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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