Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Issues Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) issued an update on its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.760-1.830 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.570. The company issued revenue guidance of $172.5 million-$174.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $173.3 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.170-7.450 EPS.

Qualys Stock Performance

Qualys stock traded down $11.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 865,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,368. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65 and a beta of 0.53. Qualys has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $155.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.68 and its 200 day moving average is $135.30.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. Qualys had a net margin of 28.96% and a return on equity of 37.40%. The firm had revenue of $175.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. Qualys’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on QLYS. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $150.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $120.00 target price on Qualys in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.12, for a total value of $1,250,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 252,800 shares in the company, valued at $37,191,936. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 7,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.59, for a total transaction of $1,100,304.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 108,074 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,567.66. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,628 shares of company stock worth $5,343,650. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Qualys News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS $1.87 vs. $1.78 estimate and revenue $175.3M (+10% y/y). Management cited stronger channel sales and expanding margins. Qualys Q4 Earnings Surpass Expectations (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised guidance: FY2026 EPS guide of $7.17–7.45 (above consensus) and Q1 guide of $1.76–1.83 (also above street). Revenue guide was roughly in line to slightly above consensus. These are clear upward revisions to forward profit expectations. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results (PR Newswire)
• Positive Sentiment: Board increased the share repurchase program by $200M — a capital-return move that typically supports buy-side demand and EPS accretion over time. MSN: Qualys Increases Share Repurchase Program
• Positive Sentiment: At least one sell-side firm (Wedbush) reaffirmed an Outperform rating and a $155 price target (~material upside from current levels), signaling continued analyst support. Benzinga: Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform on QLYS
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcripts and highlights are available for deeper read on management commentary and product/market dynamics. Review the call for any execution or customer commentary that could clarify the market reaction. Yahoo Finance: Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional transcripts and previews (Seeking Alpha, MarketBeat) provide the verbatim Q&A and slide deck for modeling changes. Seeking Alpha: QLYS Q4 2025 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and guidance, shares are trading down on elevated volume — likely a combination of profit-taking after recent gains and rotation out of software names; higher-than-normal selling suggests near-term technical pressure. MarketBeat: QLYS Stock Page
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and near-term sentiment may be tempering the rally: even with strong guidance, investors sometimes sell into good news if broader market or sector momentum is weak or if they expected even larger upside. No single operational red flag was reported in the releases, so the sell-off appears sentiment/technical-driven.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 3,218.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 531 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 482.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 646 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the 3rd quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.