Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.20 EPS

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.57 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.67% and a net margin of 29.38%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. Qualys updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance to 1.910-1.980 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Qualys’ conference call:

• Qualys raised its full-year 2026 revenue and EPS guidance, now expecting revenue of $732 million–$738 million, up 9%–10%, and EPS of $7.74–$7.88. Second-quarter revenue grew 11% to $182.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin reached 46%.
• The company reported increasing adoption of its Enterprise TruRisk Management platform, AI-native Risk Operations Center, and autonomous remediation products. Qualys highlighted large customer expansions, including a low-seven-figure QFlex upsell, and said channel revenue rose 22% year over year.
• Qualys introduced new AI-focused capabilities, including InstaScan for near-instant vulnerability detection, expanded autonomous remediation, and TotalAI 2.0 for securing enterprise AI environments. Management said benchmarking reduced exposure windows from 21 days to minutes and autonomously patched 60% of vulnerabilities.
• Management said post-Mythos demand is generating stronger customer conversations, proof-of-concepts, and pipeline activity, but most opportunities remain early and have not yet materially converted into spending. The company therefore maintained a cautious second-half current-billings assumption of 7%–8% growth.
• Net dollar expansion improved to 105% from 104% in the prior quarter, while the company continued investing in sales and marketing and repurchased $76.8 million of stock. Qualys also cited a growing federal pipeline, supported by its FedRAMP High platform and new rapid-detection and remediation requirements.

Qualys Trading Down 0.9%

QLYS traded down $1.57 on Thursday, hitting $181.68. The company had a trading volume of 342,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,529. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys has a 1 year low of $74.51 and a 1 year high of $201.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $132.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reduced their price target on Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.17, for a total transaction of $162,976.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,335,245.87. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 2,384 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.18, for a total transaction of $238,829.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,642,034.18. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 76,855 shares of company stock valued at $9,706,670 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Qualys by 204.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new position in Qualys during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Qualys by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 481 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Qualys by 74.2% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 547 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. Qualys reported adjusted EPS of $1.98, topping the $1.78 consensus and rising from $1.68 a year earlier. Revenue increased 11.1% year over year to $182.2 million, above the $178.6 million analyst estimate. Adjusted EBITDA reached $83.8 million. Qualys Q2 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year and third-quarter guidance was raised above analyst expectations. Qualys now forecasts 2026 revenue of $732 million to $738 million, compared with prior guidance of $721 million to $727 million, and EPS of $7.74 to $7.88 versus the $7.16 consensus. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $185.5 million to $187.5 million and EPS guidance of $1.91 to $1.98 also exceeded estimates. Qualys Announces Second Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Demand indicators improved. Analysts highlighted a 16% increase in current billings, 22% growth in channel revenue and signs of market-share gains. Management also cited momentum in AI-related security products, Risk Operations Center adoption, federal business, partner execution and early QFlex activity. Qualys Billings and Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: New product launch adds a potential growth catalyst. InstaScan uses existing asset telemetry and AI-driven correlation to identify newly disclosed vulnerabilities without waiting for traditional scan windows. Qualys Launches InstaScan
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its price target to $220 from $190 and upgraded QLYS to “sector outperform.” The revision reinforces bullish sentiment, although the stock’s valuation and differing analyst views remain relevant. Qualys Analyst Target Increase
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented only a 2.1% reduction in her holdings, limiting its significance, but it adds to a pattern of insider selling. Qualys CFO Stock Sale

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.