Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) released its earnings results on Thursday. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.40% and a net margin of 28.96%.The company had revenue of $175.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.18 million. Qualys updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance to 7.170-7.450 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Qualys’ conference call:

• Qualys reported full‑year revenue of $669.1M (up 10%) and Q4 revenue of $175.3M, with a strong adjusted EBITDA margin of 47% and free cash flow of $304.4M; the board also authorized a $200M increase to the share‑repurchase program (total available $360.5M).
• Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance was lowered to $717M–$725M (7%–8% growth) with EBITDA margin expected in the mid‑40s, signaling slower top‑line growth versus 2025’s 10% pace.
• Management emphasized product differentiation around the expanded ETM platform — an agentic AI risk fabric, exploit confirmation via Agent Val, an agent marketplace, native patching and identity posture — positioning Qualys as a vendor‑neutral, end‑to‑end pre‑breach remediation solution.
• Commercial momentum includes partner‑led growth (channel now 51% of revenue), several mid‑ to seven‑figure upsells with Global 50/200 customers and federal agencies, and early Q‑Flex beta traction to accelerate ETM adoption.
• Management noted adoption of ETM is still early — net dollar expansion was 103% with a modest sequential dip in gross dollar retention — leaving uncertainty about the timing and magnitude of any inflection in upsell-driven growth.

Qualys Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $1.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $127.81. 827,475 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 452,069. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $155.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $137.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 0.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QLYS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Qualys from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 3,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.99, for a total transaction of $449,211.23. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,478,578.24. This trade represents a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 7,506 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.59, for a total value of $1,100,304.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 108,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,842,567.66. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,628 shares of company stock valued at $5,343,650. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 1.8% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Qualys by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,038 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Qualys by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,818 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,876 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,821,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions designed to help organizations streamline their IT security programs. Operating on a unified, modular platform, Qualys offers continuous visibility into global IT assets through a combination of lightweight cloud agents and on-premises scanner appliances. The platform supports an array of security and compliance use cases, enabling real-time detection of vulnerabilities, policy violations and misconfigurations across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.

The company’s flagship Qualys Cloud Platform delivers a suite of integrated applications, including vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), policy compliance, web application scanning, file integrity monitoring, asset inventory and container security.